Opinion: Luton Town should target 29-year-old as Kal Naismith replacement

Kal Naismith was instrumental to Luton Town‘s promotion push in the Championship in 2021/22 and the Hatters will have to recruit very smartly to replace his contribution.

The 30-year-old not only offered incredible levels of versatility, going from playing in a front three for Wigan Athletic to a centre back for Luton, but his leadership qualities also really shone through in the second half of the season in particular.

The Hatters were rubbing shoulders with clubs with far greater financial muscle in the transfer market this season and will intend on doing so again next term.

Nathan Jones is likely to stick with the same high intensity, three at the back tactical system that worked so well in 2021/22 and bringing in a left footed versatile defender to replace Naismith will have soared towards the top end of the priority list in the last couple of days.

There are a lot of capable second tier players edging towards the end of their contracts in the coming weeks, and Luton can capitalise on that area of the market where they have in the recent past.

Yoann Barbet is an experienced ball playing defender at Championship and is out of contract at Queens Park Rangers this summer.

The Frenchman mainly played on the left of a back three in West London this season, but contributed as a makeshift holding midfielder at times as well.

Geographically, the move should not be too drastic at this stage of his career, and Barbet would arrive at Kenilworth Road, without a transfer fee, with 221 Championship appearances under his belt.

The Frenchman’s range of passing is above average for the level, and considering that a left sided player will need to be acquired to fill the Naismith void, Barbet is right up there looking at value for