Town have confirmed the signing of Luton Town winger Chiedozie Ogbene on a four-year deal.

TWTD revealed yesterday morning that the Blues were closing in on the 27-year-old, who becomes the club’s 12th addition of the summer.

The Blues are understood to have paid £8 million for the Nigeria-born wideman, who was signed in time to make his debut in the Carabao Cup at AFC Wimbledon tonight.

“I’m very excited and feel lucky to have this opportunity to play in the Premier League again,” Chiedozie told TownTV. 

“I’ve had very positive chats with the manager and for someone to believe in me that I could play at this level again means a lot to me and my family. 

“I know what he wants from me and the role I will play and I’m here to be a positive addition to the squad as we look to achieve our goals.

“It’s an opportunity I had to grab with both hands and I can’t wait to be involved as soon as possible.”

Ogbene, Town’s sixth Republic of Ireland qualifying player, joined the Hatters last summer having spent the previous four seasons with Rotherham United.

In 2023/24, the Republic of Ireland international made 20 starts and 10 sub appearances in the Premier League, scoring four goals and picking up one assist. He was also ranked as the second fastest player in the division behind Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven.

A move for another primarily right-sided forward might be viewed as a surprise with the Blues having Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson for the role, although with the Welshman currently out with a hamstring injury.

Ogbene, who has been linked with Town in previous transfer windows, is versatile and can also be played wide on the left - where Nathan Broadhead is currently absent, also due to a hamstring problem - or as a number 10.

The 5ft 11in tall wideman, who will wear the number 21 shirt, had a trial at Portman Road in January 2018 when a Limerick player alongside Barry Cotter but unlike his compatriot didn’t win a contract. However, another trial spell the same month yielded a deal with Brentford.

The Ogbene signing takes Town’s summer spending to £102.5 million, almost certainly more than has been spent in the club’s history up to the end of last season.

Town now have 28 players who qualify for their 25-man Premier League squad even before any further additions meaning several players will have to move on or not be available for league games.

Freddie Ladapo seems certain to move on, while George Edmundson would also appear on the way out following the signing of Dara O’Shea.

Others, such as Ali Al-Hamadi, Marcus Harness and Jack Taylor, could be set for loans before the window closes.

The Blues seem likely to add one more player before the window closes on Friday, a striker with the loan move for Chelsea’s Armando Broja still up in the air and Burnley’s Lyle Foster an alternative.

Photo: ITFC/Matchday Images

Cakeman added 10:10 - Aug 28 Excellent news. Welcome to Portman Road Chiedozie.
12

RobClark added 10:12 - Aug 28 Awesome signing!!!! He is so quick it will give us a massive outlet
10

bringmeaKuqi added 10:14 - Aug 28 Welcome to Town Chiedozie! It's massively helpful to have more depth across the front four, so I'm sure you'll make an impact
6

Kickingblock added 10:17 - Aug 28 Oggy Oggy Oggy!
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jas0999 added 10:19 - Aug 28 Great signing. Good value as well.
4

PimsNumber1 added 10:20 - Aug 28 We are just wasting money now .Bloke has been knocking around for years at Rotherham....Luton paid what ? 1m or less and sell at 8 Same for this Burnley striker , they paid 11m we pay 25 and he's got like 6 goals in 40 matches ...absolutely irresponsible spending now ....as for Muric another 8 m wasted .Burnley love us ..got hladky for free too
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d77sgw added 10:23 - Aug 28 Ogbene joined Luton on a free actually - contract was up at Rotheram.
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PimsNumber1 added 10:27 - Aug 28 d77 ..it makes it worse then !
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Alphawhiskey added 10:29 - Aug 28 @PimsNumber1. It's not wasting money, It's called building a squad! We need quality cover for all positions. Have you not seem KMC work his magic on young players and get an extra 10% out of them? People would soon start moaning if we had injuries to forward players and had no cover! As for Muric, he had an off day and still pulled off a world class save. We have to trust KMC and the process. He knows what he is doing and talking about. You, sadly do not.......

28

Kickingblock added 10:29 - Aug 28 Pimms. I feel your pain and understand your opinion. They are calculated risks based on data. Hopefully it's not a case of throwing good money away. Some will probably flop, but if the majority work out, it will be a successful spree. Fingers crossed they all fit in and hit the ground running!
4

Positive_Vibes added 10:32 - Aug 28 Wes Burns is quite quick, and we’ll miss his pace while he’s out. This signing gives us great cover as he recovers. Pace down the right with Phillips ability to pick a pass, I can see this being a shrewd bit of business. And £8m in the Premier league is peanuts compared to what many sides are spending.
10

Monkey_Blue added 10:32 - Aug 28 He’s very quick and given we won’t have nearly as much possession as we are used to a rapid outlet makes sense. Let’s not forget that he isn’t a nailed on starter when Burns is fit so it’s about improving the quality of our options. Still hope we keep hold of Harness because I think he offers a lot to the squad. If Freddie, George and Taylor go out then we can keep Marcus even with a new addition up front.

7

MVBlue added 10:37 - Aug 28 How many times have we broken our transfer record? 6 times or 7 ?? I am having trouble keeping up!!
1

Flight_of_Shefki added 10:38 - Aug 28 This is incredible news. Weclome, Oggy. The signings we have made - and the dough dished out - has been insane for our club. We are staying up, aren't we? :-D You blue beauties!
2

cmarkchips added 10:44 - Aug 28 Welcome Oggy- a good move and excellent cover/ rotation for Burns.
3

commuterblue added 10:45 - Aug 28 With Delap busy at 9, this frees up Hutch to move to 10. When Burns is fit, no left back is going to look forward to playing us. 60 minutes of one and 30 minutes of the other. No rest!
6

EssexTractor added 10:46 - Aug 28 Excellent eloquent first Town TV INTERVIEW Let’s hope his on field appearances are as notable. It is ridiculous to badmouth this guy when he has never played for us
11

Suffolk_n_Proud added 10:47 - Aug 28 MV Blue. I think we may have only broke it once but I could be wrong as there may be a few more signing above the value we paid for Omari Hutchinson
1

keighleyblue added 10:50 - Aug 28 Some idiotic comments on here. Ogbene seems humble, a team player, is an established international with unbelievable pace and significant Prem experience. Seems a no-brainer to me, to give strong competition / back up to Burns for the full 90+ mins of every match.
13

jayceee added 10:54 - Aug 28 Looks like a great addition - but don't want anybody to mention the last Nigerian we bought. lol
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blues1 added 10:55 - Aug 28 Suffolknproud. Our record feexpreviously was £4.5m for Sereni. So think we've broken it more than once don't you?
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Suffolk_n_Proud added 10:55 - Aug 28 Let's not call people's opinions idiotic. Some might say calling 20 starts in the premier as significant prem experience is idiotic, but everyone is entitled to an opinion and we all have different perspectives. Judge in 12 months time I say
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Suffolk_n_Proud added 10:56 - Aug 28 Blue1. No i don't. The record was omari Hutchinson and as he was our first signing then all subsequent signings have to be based on that surely
1

urbanpenguin added 10:56 - Aug 28 MVBlue - we have broken it once, with Omari.
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urbanpenguin added 10:56 - Aug 28 MVBlue - we have broken it once, with Omari.
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