Edwards thrilled to end his pursuit of 'proper' defender as Royals centre half signs for Luton

Luton boss Rob Edwards was happy to have a successful end to his pursuit of long time target and a player he termed a ‘proper defender’ when announcing Reading centre half Tom Holmes had joined the club for an undisclosed fee this afternoon.

The 23-year-old had been on the radar of Edwards and his staff for a while, as they had originally discussed potentially bringing him in ahead of the Premier League campaign starting in August. A move didn’t materialise then though, Holmes staying at the Madejski Stadium and playing 12 times for the Royals, who had been relegated to League One last term, taking his overall appearance tally at the club he came through the rank with to 129. He has now put pen to paper though with the Hatters, becoming Town’s first signing of the transfer window, although it won’t be until next season that Luton fans will witness him in action, having moved back to Reading on loan until May.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Edwards said: “Tom’s a good young player who is very experienced already, even though he’s fairly young. We have been aware of him for quite a long time and we spoke in the summer, so Tom is one that we’ve been tracking for a while. He’s a proper defender, but is someone who can take the ball as well and we think he’s got a high ceiling for someone who is still young and still developing.

“We are really looking forward to working with him and we welcome him to the club, but we feel the right thing for him is to stay at Reading on loan for the rest of the season and continue to help there. Getting that game time there this season is still the right thing in his development, but he’s someone we see as having a long-term future at the club.”