Luton Town in advanced talks to sign Belgian defender | OneFootball

The Hatters are looking to bolster at the back before the transfer window closes.

Luton Town are said to be in 'advanced talks' with Belgian club Standard Liege over a deal for their 21-year-old defender Nathan Ngoy.

The Hatters are negotiating with Liege over a €5 million (~ £4.25 million) deal for Ngoy, according to Sacha Tavolieri.

Their interest in him is said to be strong, and the player is said to be okay on the personal terms being offered by Luton, with a long-term contract being part of the proposal.

Ngoy can seemingly play across the backline. In their first two games of the new season, former Arsenal academy player Reuell Walters has played on the right-hand side of Rob Edwards' back-three, and this is clearly an area that he is looking to strengthen with the prospective addition of Ngoy.

They have added Mark McGuinness from Cardiff City in recent days, in a deal worth up to £10 million according to the BBC, which will add further depth to a currently weakened Luton back line.

The likes of Mads Andersen and Tom Lockyer are still out of action due to fitness/health issues, although the club captain is now back to training nearly eight months on from a cardiac arrest he suffered against AFC Bournemouth.

Luton Town in advanced talks over Nathan Ngoy deal

The Hatters are looking to secure Ngoy for a fee of €5 million, according to Tavolieri.

Despite his tender age, Ngoy made his Pro League debut for Liege back in May 2021, when he was just 17-years-old. Since then, his minutes at the top level of Belgian football have steadily increased, although he isn't a current mainstay in their starting XI.

Ngoy has only played in one of Liege's first four games of the new campaign - a 1-0 loss to Kortrijk.

His positional versatility as a defender has been well shown during his time with Liege. Last season he played the majority of his games as the left-sided defender in a back-three.

His awareness and comfortability with this system - a system that Edwards uses at Luton - should make the transition period easier for Ngoy, if the move gets done before the end of the window.

One recruitment analysis with strong knowledge of the Belgian league described the Town target to Football League World as: "a great athlete."

They added: "He can carry the ball well but he's not a player you want to see the ball a lot. He fits Luton’s type of centre-back though."

Luton need defensive reinforcements

Adding a sturdiness to the defence is something that has been clearly identified as a necessity for the Hatters to address before the window closes.

They conceded 85 goals in 38 Premier League games last time out, and their start to this campaign hasn't exactly been convincing at the back.

Injury and fitness issues haven't helped them, but they do need to become more solid if they want to make this season a successful one.

Look at all the top teams from the previous Championship campaign. Leicester City and Leeds United only let in 41 and 43 goals respectively. For the other two - Ipswich Town and Southampton - it was their offensive firepower that made their more leaky defences less of a worry.

Luton don't want to be in a position where they need to score 90 goals in this campaign to give themselves a real chance of winning promotion, and reinforcements at the back will majorly help that cause.