Luton Town midfielder set for exit as agreement reached | OneFootball

Tom Krauss is set to cancel his loan at Luton Town to switch to Bundesliga outfit Bochum on loan from Mainz instead.

Midfielder Tom Krauss swapped the German top-flight for a campaign in the Championship with Luton Town after agreeing a season-long loan from Bundesliga outfit 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the summer, but he now looks set to terminate his agreement and instead move to VfL Bochum 1848.

Luton signed the German midfielder back in August, but Florian Plettenberg has confirmed the story via Philipp Rentsch, who first called the news. He and the Bochum manager Dieter Hecking worked together at 1. FC Nürnberg.

The 23-year-old originally came through the RB Leipzig academy in his native Germany and Krauss only joined Mainz last summer. That followed loan spells with two other German sides, in the form of Nürnberg and FC Schalke 04. The midfielder has also been capped at multiple youth levels by Germany all the way up to U-21 level.

Krauss, who has played 14 times for Germany Under-21s, made 29 league appearances for Mainz last season. He is now set to return to his homeland after featuring 61 times in the Bundesliga for Schalke in 2022/23 and Mainz last term. Bochum are currently bottom of the Bundesliga, having survived a relegation play-off in 2024/25.

Tom Krauss set for early Luton Town exit and switch to Bochum

As things stand, there are still two-and-a-half years remaining on the midfielder's current contract, securing his future in Germany until the end of the 2026/27 season. However, he has been a bright spark for Luton since his introduction into the side this term.

Having joined late in the summer and injured, Krauss had to wait for his chance under Rob Edwards at Kenilworth Road. He has since impressed, starting 20 of the 23 games he has featured in this season in the Championship. Krauss scored a wonderful goal against Oxford United recently, which was one of six goal contributions in that time [Transfermarkt].

Plettenberg has confirmed that the loan with Luton will be terminated. He claims negotiations are underway now with Bochum, albeit no contract has been signed yet. The midfielder will join Bochum on a six-month loan from Mainz instead.

It's a blow for Luton, even if, right now, they still have a number of options on the books as Kenilworth Road, who can operate in the centre of midfield. The likes of Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu, Shandon Baptiste, Marvelous Nakamba, Liam Walsh, and Jordan Clark are all proven operators at this level who Luton can call on.

It has been an underwhelming and frankly disappointing season for Luton in the Championship after the Hatters suffered relegation from the Premier League in the previous campaign, coming 18th in the table.

The last few months have been a learning curve for them, but losing a key player that had played a number of minutes is sure to be a blow. Krauss was not the all-round midfield package, and elements of the second tier were a challenge for a 23-year-old living abroad for the first time.

However, he has been one of the better players after Krauss was playing catch-up at the start of the season after joining late in the window and then dealing with an ankle injury. He didn't feature for Luton until late September, but has featured in every game but one since in the league.