Some Championship teams have been very busy in the transfer market so far - none more so than Luton Town.

After a 12th placed finish in the second tier last season, finishing ahead of many teams with bigger budgets, the Hatters have had to replenish their squad thanks to the departures of some long-serving players.

Both Matty Pearson and James Collins have moved on to Huddersfield and Cardiff respectively and the future of Pelly Ruddock - who has been with the club since they were in non-league - is very much up in the air.

Seven players have been signed by Nathan Jones though already and there may be more to come, however most of them have arrived before pre-season has begun and that can only be a good thing for the cohesion of the squad.

With a home clash against newly-promoted Peterborough United first up in August for Luton, let's look at how Jones could line his team up against Posh on the opening day.

Luton have strengthened many positions already this summer, but between the sticks is not really somewhere that needs to be looked at thanks to Sluga's form last season.

The Croatian stopper was a bit of a left-field signing in 2019, with the Hatters paying £1.5 million to prize him from Rijeka, and even though he did make some mistakes in his debut campaign you could still see there was a good goalkeeper there.

Sluga showed a lot more consistency in 2020-21 and there's no reason for Jones to change his number one next season, with James Shea backing him up if he's needed to be used.

Even though Luton lined up in a 4-3-1-2 formation for the final nine games of the Championship season, the personnel they currently have on their hands may fit better in a 3-5-2 that Jones isn't shy of using either.

And on the right-hand side of the back three would be Burke, who is a bit of a coup from Hull City having had a number of other Championship clubs interested in him.

The 24-year-old cost the Tigers £1.5 million a few years ago and after helping them back into the Championship last season, he clearly felt like it was time to move on from Grant McCann's outfit.

Comfortable with bringing the ball out from the back, Burke should be a good addition to the Hatters squad and it would be a surprise if he isn't thrown straight into the line-up.

Perhaps one of Luton's most important summer deals has been to bring back the influential Sonny Bradley, who had interest from other clubs but he made it clear that Kenilworth Road is where he wanted to be.

The imposing defender is the club's captain and his performances will be vital to Luton's success on the pitch next season, but he'll have to get used to a new player alongside him as Matty Pearson has now gone and been replaced by the aforementioned Burke.

Despite being a big unit, Bradley didn't get himself on the end of any set pieces last season so that will be something that he will be looking to return to his game, but his main job is to keep the ball away from Simon Sluga's goal and he should be in the starting line-up to do so.

Once a goalscoring winger for Portsmouth, Kal Naismith has transformed into one of the most notable utility players in the Football League.

The 29-year-old occasionally played at left-back for Wigan Athletic but after arriving at Kenilworth Road last season, Nathan Jones converted him into a full-time defender - but it was at centre-back and not left-back where the Scot has found his calling.

Naismith has played in both a pair and a trio at the back and he's looked very comfortable in doing so, and after his impressive performances at the back end of the season it would be silly for him to not retain his place ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

Of course Luton have Tom Lockyer waiting in the wings as well but he spent much of last season injured and he may have to contend with a place on the bench.

This position is probably a toss-up between James Bree and Jordan Clark, but preference is probably for the former due to him having more defensive qualities.

Clark was another advanced player who was used in a defensive position at times last season and he would suit a wing-back role but this coming season could be the making of Bree, who despite only being 22 has been in the senior game for what seems an age having made his Barnsley debut when he was just 16.

Bree gained a consistent run of games towards the end of the season and in that time Luton were in good form, so the former Aston Villa man deserves to be starting the season against Peterborough, but Clark will no doubt be waiting to replace him should things not go to plan.

On the other side of the pitch, Luton's left-wing-back spot has been strengthened with the signing of Blackburn Rovers man Amari'i Bell and you'd expect he will go into the starting line-up, unless Jones plans to use Naismith here.

The 26-year-old wasn't a regular last season at Ewood Park as his place was taken by Barry Douglas, but there's still a solid Championship player in there and Jones wouldn't have snapped him up on a free if he didn't think the Jamaica international could do a job.

Bell's attacking qualities are probably better than his defensive ones so he will suit the wing-back role to a tee and Elijah Adebayo is probably salivating over the thought of Bell's crosses coming into the box for his head to get on the end of already.

One long-serving Luton player who won't be going anywhere this summer is Glen Rea, who is heading into a sixth full season as a permanent Hatters player and the 2020-21 campaign was probably one of his best yet.

The season prior was really all about building up his match fitness after suffering a bad knee injury, and after that Rea slotted right back into the team as a holding midfielder under Jones and he holds the engine room together with his performances.

You'll never see Rea bursting into the box from his position but Jones trusts him to go about his business and he's set to be a regular feature again in 2021-22.

With Pelly Ruddock still yet to pen a new contract and the chances of him doing so now increasingly unlikely, Luton needed to bring in some new midfielders and they pulled off a bit of a coup by bringing in Motherwell's Allan Campbell.

Other Championship sides wanted the 22-year-old but it's Kenilworth Road where he has ended up and he could provide the box-to-box energy that Ruddock may take away with him.

Campbell obviously has big shoes to fill even if Ruddock miraculously stays, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall being a key player last season on loan from Leicester but his performances north of the border for Motherwell were very impressive and he should have no issues with fitting in in the Championship.

After his performances for Wales at Euro 2020, Joe Morrell may force his way into the Luton side after rarely appearing last season, but a chance may be taken on new recruit Henri Lansbury, who has had a torrid few years.

Lansbury played just 41 league games in four years for Aston Villa after being a regular at Nottingham Forest for many years, but Bristol City gave him a chance in the second half of last season and he managed to get some significant and much-needed game-time under his belt.

Nigel Pearson didn't keep him on though beyond the end of the campaign and the Robins' loss could be Luton's gain if Lansbury can find his form from five years ago.

It's a big ask but being the experienced man in the team could suit Lansbury well and he could really thrive in that role.

Luton took a mid-season deadline day punt on Walsall striker Elijah Adebayo last season - and it's fair to say it paid off.

Stepping up from League Two to the Championship can be really tough, but when you're 6 ft 4 in and are a physical presence like Adebayo then it's not as hard as it is for others.

The 23-year-old scored five times in 18 outings for the Hatters and he looks to have been a shrewd investment already, and there's seemingly more to come when he gets a full season of football at Kenilworth Road under his belt.

Luton may have lost a prolific goalscorer in Collins to Cardiff, but Adebayo could fill his shoes with a decent strike partner next to him.

And despite not being an out-and-out striker, that partner could be Carlos Mendes Gomes, with Luton beating off a number of other clubs to the signing of the Morecambe forward.

Mendes Gomes comes highly-rated having scored 16 goals in the Shrimps' promotion-winning season, and it seems like the Hatters had to be very persuasive to make him relocate down south.

But Nathan Jones seems like he's good at nurturing young talent, and there will be less pressure on him to succeed at Luton than some of the other clubs that were linked to the Spaniard's signature.

Even though he isn't a natural striker, Mendes Gomes showed the qualities necessary to play there last season and for now he would get the nod over the more experienced Cameron Jerome, who scored 13 times for MK Dons last season and adds more experience to the Hatters' attack.