Luton Town boss Nathan Jones has revealed that contract talks have begun with club captain Sonny Bradley in the wake of fresh transfer interest from Championship rivals Preston North End.

Sun journalist Alan Nixon believes that the Lilywhites are interested in the 29-year-old as Alex Neil looks to bolster his defence due to the long-term achilles injury to Patrick Bauer and the impending exit of Ben Davies, who is out of contract in the summer.

On the face of it, Bradley would look like a potential replacement for Bauer as they are similar statures, but being a left-footer, the former Portsmouth defender would more suit being a replacement for Davies - even though they are very different styles of players.

There seems to be no denial of the interest in local reports from Preston's end, but the Hatters will not want to lose their influential captain - especially for nothing.

Jones doesn't plan on doing that either, and along with all other out of contract Luton players this summer, talks have started with Bradley, although he was reluctant to reveal how far they had gotten.

Despite being 29 years old, the Hatters manager thinks Bradley still has improvement left as a late bloomer and his encouraging words may be a catalyst to him eventually signing a new deal.

 

Quiz: The top 16 Luton Town record player departures – Which club did they join though?

 

 

"I think he’s got a manager that believes in him, that has believed in him," Jones told Luton Today.
"Whenever he plays well we don’t let him get too high and when he has a tough game or a game where he’s not at his best, we make sure that we speak and bring him through those times.
"He’s got a lot of development left in him, he’s not at his maximum at the minute, there’s still a lot of things that he can do better, but we’re delighted he’s ours." The Verdict Preston fans have been quite enthused at the potential signing of Bradley due to his imposing figure and ability to play out from the back, so the fact that contract talks have started between the Hull-born defender and his club may be disappointing news to them. But that doesn't mean to say he's going to sign anything, and Bradley may prefer a fresh challenge up north upon the expiration of his contract. The simple reality of the matter is that Preston can probably afford to pay bigger wages than Luton if recent £17,000-per week contract offers to Ben Davies and Daniel Johnson are anything to go by, so if PNE test Luton's resolve with a cash offer for Bradley this month, then his head may very well be turned.