Why Carlton Morris is leaving Luton Town for Derby County - there are 3 clear reasons | OneFootball

3 reasons why Carlton Morris is leaving Luton Town to join up with Derby County.

It was reported on Saturday afternoon that Luton Town striker Carlton Morris has agreed a deal to join ambitious Championship side Derby County.

According to an update via X from John Percy of The Telegraph, the Rams are set to kick off a signing spree with the capture of the recently-relegated striker from the Hatters.

Morris has been Luton's top goalscorer in each of the last three seasons, scoring a total of 39 league goals, but just eight of those came in the Championship last term.

Ultimately, he was part of a squad that seriously underperformed last season, which subsequently saw the Bedfordshire side suffer back-to-back relegations, condemning them to League One for the first time since 2019.

However, it was unlikely that the 28-year-old would remain at Kenilworth Road this summer, and with the news of his imminent switch to Pride Park, Football League World explored three reasons why Morris is making this move.

League One football will be of no interest to Morris

Whilst his numbers last season were less than impressive in comparison to his previous two seasons with Luton, he still ended the campaign as Town's top goalscorer, with eight league goals to his name.

Before last season's disappointing campaign, Morris proved himself to be a reliable source of goals in the Championship, and even the Premier League.

He netted 20 goals in Luton's promotion season, ending up as top goalscorer for the club once again, and then repeated that feat in the top flight, this time with 11 goals.

Despite not reaching the numbers he would've hoped last season, Morris' contributions at Kenilworth Road are not indicative of a player who will want to be playing League One football next season.

Working with John Eustace

Arguably Derby's biggest coup in recent years is convincing John Eustace to move from play-off-chasing Blackburn Rovers to the relegation-threatened Rams last February.

He did an excellent job to keep the club in the division, and now has a transfer window to assemble a squad he will hope can improve on last season's 19th-place finish in the Championship.

The 45-year-old is quickly establishing himself as one of the best managers in the second tier, thanks to his ability to get the best out of players who've experienced a wobble in form or game time in recent years of their careers.

After Morris' struggles last season, working with Eustace will likely be a tantalizing prospect for the striker. He will hope that under the Derby boss' guidance and with better service, he can recapture the form he showed in his early Luton days.

The chance to be the main man in an exciting project

It's undeniable that something special is being built at Pride Park under Eustace. After years of pain under Mel Morris, the club is finally taking its first steps towards rebuilding to where it once was.

For any player, this is exactly the sort of project that you'd want to be involved in, especially as you enter the peak of your career, as Morris has now done at 28 years old.

To head to Derby and potentially be the main man in what could be a very exciting few years for the club will be a hugely enticing prospect for the Luton striker, as that's the role he played at Kenilworth Road.

Morris will surely see his chance to become a hero at Pride Park, recreating that prolific form he showed with the Hatters, and potentially being the spearhead of the club's resurgence on the pitch.