Luton Town are continuing their preparations for the 2019/20 campaign with a friendly against CS Maritimo this morning, with the Hatters fielding a trialist against the Portuguese side.

Fans on social media have picked up on this, with pictures suggesting that the mystery player is none other than Derby County midfielder Jacob Butterfield.

The 29-year-old is currently facing an uncertain future at Pride Park, having been frozen out by previous boss Frank Lampard and training elsewhere this pre-season.

The midfielder, who arrived at Pride Park from Huddersfield Town in 2015, has made 80 league appearances for the Rams, but was sent out on loan to Bradford City in January last season.

After failing to help the Bantams avoid relegation to League Two, Butterfield has since become surplus to requirements at Derby, and was not part of the squad that travelled to America as part of their pre-season schedule.

He has been in training with Blackburn Rovers, but with a move to Ewood Park looking uncertain, it now looks as if he could be being eyed up by Luton Town if fans are to be believed. The midfielder only has one year left on his deal with the Rams.

Luton have been very active in the transfer market thus far, bringing in six new faces as Graeme Jones' side prepare to kick off the 2019/20 campaign against Middlesbrough in less than two weeks time.

The Verdict

It has been a disappointing few months for Butterfield, who has really fallen out of favour at Derby due to managerial changes.

He used to be a quality player for Huddersfield back in the day, but his reputation has somewhat decreased after a terrible loan spell with Bradford last season.

All he needs is an arm around the shoulder, though, and a move to Luton could be a really inspired choice by him if the club choose to sign him.

If the player in the picture is him, then Jones will be monitoring him closely today.