Luton Town boss Graeme Jones has opened up about Arthur Read's recent departure from Kenilworth Road.

The 19-year-old midfielder left the club earlier this month to join Brentford where he will play for their B team in the upcoming 2019/20 campaign.

Although Read never made a league appearance during his time with the Hatters, he did feature on seven occasions in the Checkatrade Trophy in which he displayed some real signs of promise.

Yet with Luton currently not being able to boast an under-23 side, the teenager has decided to jump ship in the hope that the Bees can provide the necessary platform for him to nurture his talents.

Speaking about Read's exit to Luton Today, Jones admitted: “I spoke to Arthur, I had an individual meeting with him.

“I didn’t know lots about him, is the truth, but people in and around the club were telling me he had talent.

“I think Arthur just saw maybe a pathway at Brentford that he was going to play U23s and I think you need games in order to develop.

“At Luton at the minute, we’re not in that situation, hopefully in the future we will be.

"Those little things help you keep players like Arthur Read because they can see a pathway with games and development to try and get into the first team.”

The Verdict

Whereas losing Read may not have a direct impact on the Hatters' fortunes for the upcoming campaign, it does set a worrying precedent for the future.

Despite boasting an academy which has harboured the talents of Max Aarons, Jay Dasilva and Cauley Woodrow in recent years, the fact that all three of these players opted to move elsewhere instead of staying at the club suggests that Luton may need to slightly alter their approach to promoting youth now that they are in the Championship.

Whereas it would be naive to suggest that Jones should be exclusively fielding homegrown players from the outset in the second-tier, bringing one or two individuals into the fray over the course of the next of 10 months could prove to be a wise decision, especially when you consider James Justin's recent rise to prominence.

After making his debut for the Hatters in 2016, the defender played a pivotal role in the club's back-to-back promotions before securing a big-money move to Leicester City in June.

If Luton can strike gold once more with one of their academy players, they could quite easily establish themselves as a bona fide Championship side over the coming years.