Charlton Athletic ‘fight off’ competition to make ‘significant signing’ of Luton Town midfielder Luke Berry

Charlton Athletic have signed midfielder Luke Berry on at least a two-year contract following his release by Luton Town.

The 31-year-old has scored in all five of the top divisions in England and won three promotions with the Hatters as they went all the way from League Two to the Premier League.

Luton confirmed earlier this summer that they would not be offering new terms to Berry, who scored twice in 17 appearances in England’s top-flight last season.

Charlton also have an option to extend Berry’s deal by a further 12 months.

The player is reunited with Nathan Jones, who was Luton Town boss when he first arrived from Cambridge United in 2017.

Berry told Charlton’s official website: “Nathan told me how great the club is. When I finished up at Luton, I rang him straight away and wanted to get it going.

“This Charlton team is a really good team. We just need to believe in ourselves, put in the hard work and I can see us doing something special.”

Jones added: “Luke’s someone that I signed for Luton in 2017.

“He’s one of the best goalscoring midfielders outside of the Premier League in recent years in terms of his outputs and we’re really delighted to have him.

“He’s a player I know very well as a character, athlete and footballer. It’s a significant signing for us with the track record that he’s got of promotions.

“He’s obviously had three promotions with Luton and that’s exactly what we’ve brought him in for. We’ve fought off a lot of competition to get him and I’m just pleased that our club and my relationship with him has enabled us to get the signing over the line. I’m sure he’s going to be a significant signing for the club.

“His last appearance was in the Premier League and his next appearance is going to be for Charlton Athletic, so that’s the type of calibre that we want to attract. We’ve fought off a lot of Championship interest for Luke.

“He’s similar to me in terms of wanting to be part of another project and wanting somewhere where he can be for a while and get his teeth stuck into. He’s someone that I absolutely love working with on a day-to-day basis and that’s going to continue.”

Charlton technical director Andy Scott added: “As part of this summer’s recruitment strategy we want to add quality, experience and a winning mentality to the young talent we have in our squad. We’re delighted to sign Luke, a player who ticks all those boxes and who has an excellent track record working under Nathan.

“Having played most recently in the Premier League and achieved three promotions in seven seasons, we’re really pleased to bring Luke to Charlton to be reunited with Nathan, a manager who knows how to get the best out of him.”

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