How Jack Wilshere feels about potential West Ham transfer at Luton Town | OneFootball

Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere has revealed whether he would like the club to sign West Ham United loanee Gideon Kodua on a permanent basis.

Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere has confirmed that he is keen for the club to sign West Ham United loanee Gideon Kodua on a permanent basis.

Kodua has never made a senior appearance for West Ham, but he made a name for himself during two loan spells with Wycombe Wanderers in League One over the past two seasons, scoring a combined total of three goals in 35 appearances.

The 21-year-old linked up with his former Chairboys boss Matt Bloomfield for a third time this summer when he joined Luton on a season-long loan, with the deal including an option to buy in the summer, but their reunion did not last long after the Hatters made a managerial change in October after an inconsistent start to the campaign.

Kodua may have been fearing for his future at Kenilworth Road after Bloomfield's exit, but he has found a new lease of life since the appointment of Jack Wilshere, emerging as one of the shining lights in what has been an underwhelming season for the Hatters.

The winger scored his eighth goal in just 26 appearances for Luton as he netted the opener in his side's 3-0 home win over Leyton Orient on Monday night, and while the club still have six months to decide whether to trigger their buy option, it seems Wilshere has already made his mind up.

Speaking after Kodua's latest impressive performance against Leyton Orient, Wilshere revealed that Luton are planning to take up their option to sign the West Ham loanee permanently in the summer.

"Yes, for sure, that is in my opinion a really good signing with a really good option in it. He’s stepped up and I always think that’s a bit of pressure as well for a young player to come, because from the club’s point of view, it’s almost like a trial. He’s taken it so I think yes, for sure (we want to sign him)," Wilshere told Luton Today.

"For a young player, I know this is his second loan and he probably didn’t play as much as he wanted last year, but I feel like he’s really found a home here. The players love him, the staff love him, he wants to get better.

"He’s a guy who’s coming knocking on the coaches door to go through clips and that’s what you get, you get improvement. It gives you a little bit more confidence and he always looks a threat I think."

When asked how Kodua has progressed from being used mainly as a substitute to becoming a regular starter, Wilshere said: "The commitment he has to his development.

"After the Reading game, I was sat at the front of the bus and there was a tap on my shoulder and it was Gideon. He wanted to have a chat, he wants to know what he can do to improve, what he can do to get better, and he does that constantly, but that’s his mentality, that’s after a defeat, he comes to the front of the coach to ask the gaffer straight away and that’s who he is.

"He has a real warmth about him, an energy, and the lads feed off it. The players love him and the coaches love him. He’ll go to the coaches, go to Powelly (Chris Powell, assistant), sit down with him, look at clips and talk about how he can improve and his commitment to his development.

"He’ll have some moments as well, as development is not always linear. There’s some tough moments and it helps sometimes that in those tough moments is where you actually develop even more."

Luton Town will be thankful to Matt Bloomfield for Gideon Kodua, West Ham deal

Having overseen the club's relegation from the Championship and a poor start to life in League One, as well as some questionable recruitment, it is fair to say Luton supporters do not have the most positive view of Bloomfield, but the signing of Kodua is one reason for them to be thankful to their former manager.

Without Bloomfield's previous connections with Kodua, it is unlikely that he would have been a player on the Hatters' radar in the summer, particularly given his lack of game time in the second half of last season at Wycombe under Mike Dodds, but he is increasingly looking like an inspired addition.

With five goals in his last six appearances, Kodua is going from strength to strength under Wilshere's guidance, and if Luton are to secure an immediate return to the Championship, they will need him to maintain his current form for the rest of the season.

As Kodua continues to grab the headlines, the Hatters will be delighted they included a buy option in the deal as it means they will not need to worry about other clubs coming in for the winger in the summer when his loan expires.