Why Luton Town have completed a deal for Jerry Yates – Matt Bloomfield has outlined the reasons | OneFootball

Matt Bloomfield has massively praised Jerry Yates after the striker joined Luton Town from Swansea City this summer transfer window.

Luton Town are one of the pre-season title favourites in League One, and the Hatters have continued to bolster what is already a strong squad with the addition of Jerry Yates from Swansea City.

Yates spent last season on loan at newly-promoted Derby County in the Championship, and the 28-year-old striker managed to hit double figures for goals in the league as the Rams avoided relegation on the final day of the campaign.

He had joined Swansea in the summer of 2023 after an excellent stint at Bloomfield Road at Blackpool but eight goals in 43 league appearances, whilst not disastrous, was deemed to be underwhelming by the Jacks and so he has been seen as surplus to requirements at the Swansea.com Stadium for a while now.

In League One, where Yates will now once again be playing his football, he has only ever played one full season and in that season he struck 20 goals in 44 appearances for the aforementioned Blackpool, as the Seasiders gained promotion to the second-tier in the 2020/21 campaign.

Now, as the Doncaster-born striker returns to the third-tier of English football, Luton fans will be excited by his arrival, and Matt Bloomfield has outlined why he has brought him to Kenilworth Road.

Matt Bloomfield feels Jerry Yates is a massive signing for Luton Town

Former Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield will be under immediate pressure in Bedfordshire, with Town expected to immediately hit the ground running in their pursuit of the League One title.

However, with what is already an impressive squad that has suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League, boosted by some additions this summer, he will be confident of fulfilling expectations.

He has been effusive in his praise of Yates and the club for getting the deal over the line, explaining that Yates will be the main man up-front, too, to ‘spearhead’ Luton’s attack.

Speaking via the club website on why Yates has been brought to Kenilworth Road, Bloomfield said: “This is a massive signing for us. Jerry is a seasoned pro and proven at Championship level, and at League One level.

“He had a desire to stay in the Championship but he’s bought into what we want to achieve, who we are as a football club and because we want him to spearhead our attack.

“He’s a real Luton-type player; someone who doesn’t stop running, doesn’t stop working, and plays with real energy and enthusiasm.

“He was a handful against us when playing for Derby at the back end of last season and when the opportunity arose to sign him we grabbed it with both hands.”

Bloomfield and Luton off to a good start but need to improve

On the opening day of the campaign, Luton edged past AFC Wimbledon by a goal to nil in a hard-fought contest at Kenilworth Road, with Wimbledon defender Ryan Johnson scoring a comical own goal to separate the two sides in the dying stages of the clash.

Luton were expected to defeat Wimbledon, but perhaps do it with a bit more comfort and panache, albeit Wimbledon are expected to be resolute and difficult to play against throughout the campaign, following their promotion via the League Two play-offs last season.

The issue for Bloomfield may well be the bloated nature of his squad because the sheer quality of depth of it will provide him with headaches that make finding the best and most cohesive eleven available to him a little difficult.

However, what is clearly apparent is that, despite the signing of Nahki Wells on a free transfer from Bristol City earlier this summer, Yates has been brought in to be the focal point of Luton’s likely title-challenging attack.