Luton Town must be fearing the worst after Thelo Aasgaard exit, one more sale will derail League One hopes

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Luton Town’s relegation was bad, but the club is now losing its best players and it looks like the Hatters are destined to struggle in League One as things stand.

After winning over many neutrals with their spirited displays in the Premier League in 2023/24, many had hoped that Luton could bounce back despite relegation from the top flight.

The Hatters struggled all season, though, and even after parting ways with Rob Edwards in the new year, Luton were unable to avoid a back-to-back relegation and a return to League One.

Matt Bloomfield takes a relatively strong squad into the third tier, but it’s one that is getting weaker and weaker as the summer goes on.

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Thelo Aasgaard joining Rangers is a huge blow for Luton Town

Luton chairman David Wilkinson pledged to fix the damage of last season, promising that the club will analyse what went wrong and strive to do better in 2025/26.

In spite of this, we still predicted a tough campaign for Luton, and that was before key players starting departing Kenilworth Road.

Star striker Carlton Morris joined Derby County last month, and now, electric winger Thelo Aasgaard has moved North of the border to join Rangers.

News of Rangers’ interest in Aasgaard first emerged just days ago, and the Scottish giants moved quickly to get a deal done. It is thought a fee in the region of £5m was paid for the Norwegian, whom Luton signed for £3m in January.

It’s a massive blow for Luton to lose a player of Aasgaard’s ability. In many ways, he was the Hatters’ most exciting and creative player, and he’s already proven what he can do at League One level during his time at Wigan.

With Aasgaard in their ranks, Luton stood a good chance of pushing for promotion. Without him, they are now destined to struggle.

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Alfie Doughty leaving would completely kill Luton’s promotion dream

With no disrespect to the rest of the Luton squad, you could argue that Alfie Doughty is now the main player that could make something happen for the Hatters heading into the new campaign.

The left-sided defender was a standout performer in the Premier League for Luton, and it’s something of a surprise that he is still at the club anyway. But, with rumours suggesting Doughty could be Middlesbrough-bound, fans will be praying he sticks around for another year.

It’ll be a challenge to keep hold of the 25-year-old, who is admittedly better than League One level. Losing him, though, would mean Luton have let go of their best defender, midfielder, and forward in the same transfer window.

Mass recruitment will be needed regardless if Luton are to stand a chance of mounting a serious promotion push. But, it may be a year or two of consolidation before they can realistically think about that now.