Luton Town urged to make exit decision on 27-year-old and end difficult Kenilworth Road stay | OneFootball

The Danish centre back has endured a tough couple of years at the Hatters

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Mads Andersen was ever-present in the Barnsley squad for the four seasons he spent at Oakwell, and even captained the side at Wembley in the 2023 League One play-off final.

However, his time at Luton Town has been less than ideal. After starting three of the first four Premier League games in 2023/24 and scoring the first Premier League goal at Kenilworth Road, hamstring issues restricted him to just four more league appearances all season.

This season, injuries have played a part in another season where the Dane has made just eight league appearances, but even then, 18 games as an unused substitute in the Championship this season implies that he simply hasn't been deemed first-choice under Rob Edwards or Matt Bloomfield.

AftonBladet are reporting that a move to Malmö may be in the works for the 27-year-old and, if this is to be the case, cutting ties with Andersen ahead of next season's League One campaign is probably the best thing the Hatters can do.

No hard feelings as Mads Andersen linked with move away from Luton Town

FLW's Luton Town fan pundit, Simon Mills, knows that the upcoming season in League One will be very physically demanding on Luton's players and, given Mads Andersen's recent bad luck with injuries, doesn't feel that he is up to scratch.

However, saying that, Simon feels that if Andersen were to depart, he would leave with the best wishes of everyone in the stands at Kenilworth Road.

"I've got nothing against Mads Andersen," he said. "By all accounts, he had a stellar time at Barnsley before we signed him, but the Luton Town injury curse struck him, and he seems to be injured far too much.

"We need players available, especially in League One, where it is incredibly physical and challenges go in hard and fast. We need players up to that physical scrutiny."

On a potential move to Malmö, Simon said: "I think a move there would be great for Mads as he gets to move closer to home and great for Luton as well, as we spent a lot of money on him by our standards.

"He'll leave with no bad feelings, and I hope he does well elsewhere."

Mads Andersen could be useful for Luton Town if they were to keep him

For Luton Town to succeed next season, they will need to maintain a good blend of quality for the level, as well as players who know what it's like to succeed in a highly physical League One.

Injuries aside, Mads Andersen fits that bill, and with him being named in over half of the matchday squads this past Championship season, it indicates that he was available a lot more often than people may think.

Luton have a decent number of centre-backs who have played at third-tier level, such as Mark McGuinness, Reece Burke and Kai Naismith, but having Mads Andersen around could put the Hatters in an even stronger position going into the new season.

Nevertheless, next season will be one for the 27-year-old to get his career back on track after it stalled over the past two years, whether that's at Luton, Malmö, or elsewhere.