Luton Town transfer agreement with Leeds United failed due to one circumstance

Sometimes transfers just don’t work out for one reason or another. But, the loan signing of Eunan O’Kane seemed like it would be a certain success for Luton Town and Leeds United.

Disappointingly, this turned out not to be the case as the midfielder suffered a devastating early season injury that nobody could have foreseen.

Eunan O’Kane’s impressive rise

Having left Everton as a teenager, O’Kane signed for Northern Irish side Coleraine in 2009 and quickly proved himself, scoring on his professional debut.

His time in his home country didn’t last long though, and following a successful trial, he joined Devon’s Torquay United in 2010.

For the Gulls, it quickly became apparent that O’Kane was a superb player, as he contributed with 28 goal involvements across two seasons on the English Riviera.

Interest was heavy in the summer of 2012 for the Irishman, with Swindon and Crawley both submitting bids to try and lure him away. Try as they did, it was the forward-thinking AFC Bournemouth who managed to capture the signature of O’Kane, and what a signing he was for them.

In four seasons at the club, the midfielder helped take his side from League One all the way to the Premier League in one of the most remarkable stories in British football history. Whilst injuries limited his game time in his final two years at the club, there was no doubting the role that he had played in helping Eddie Howe’s side get to the top tier.

This meant that when Leeds were given the opportunity to sign him on deadline day in August 2016. The Yorkshire club jumped at the chance and offered him a two-year deal, hoping that he could change their fortunes in midfield.

Luton deal devastatingly failed

His time at Leeds was one to forget for the Irishman, with his spell being mixed with injuries as well as inconsistencies in an unpredictable team.

Featuring predominantly at the base of the midfield, Whites fans were often critical in his second season at the club of his lack of defensive awareness in a team that shipped 64 goals that year.

The arrival of Marcelo Bielsa saw the end for O’Kane at the club, after being told by Victor Orta (Leeds’ Director of Football) that he was no longer needed and that he should seek a transfer elsewhere.

That he did, opting to sign on loan for Luton Town, who had just seen consecutive promotions from the National League to League One.

A remarkable similarity to his former side, Bournemouth, meant this seemed the perfect fit for O’Kane.

Devastatingly, his time in Bedfordshire lasted just three games as a horror moment scarred his loan move. Having come off the bench against Bristol Rovers, O’Kane would go in for a challenge on a Gas player but came off on the wrong side of it as he agonisingly broke his leg.

Luton later confirmed that the midfielder would have to undergo surgery after suffering tibia and fibula fractures. With that horrible news, the midfielder returned to Elland Road in a bid to aid his recuperation.

Speaking to Balls.ie about his injury in 2019, he said: “It is not something that any athlete wants to hear. Personally, I switched off from football completely because it was difficult to watch. It was hard knowing the end was so far away. The opportunity to play was so far away.”

O’Kane never recovered from his injury

The injury was a devastating one for all parties involved, but for O’Kane it spelled the beginning of the end of his career.

Once a dynamic and graceful midfielder, that season at Luton had the possibility of being a superb one for the former Torquay man. Had the injury not occurred, he may have played a huge role in the midfield that helped Luton secure promotion to the Championship.

Despite this, his impact on the club was enough for them to offer him a second chance as he returned on a further 18-month loan deal in January 2020.

For Luton, the hope was that they could transform him back into the player he once was. But sadly, it never occurred, as persistent injury issues haunted O’Kane, leading to him never featuring for the Hatters.

The Feeny-born player would have a sad end to his career as, aged 30, he would retire from the sport upon his release from Leeds. Making the final game of his career that dreadful day at Kenilworth Road.

For Leeds and Luton, the deal between the clubs made sense, but had these unfortunate set of circumstances not occurred, it could have been a brilliant agreement for the two teams.