Former Arsenal wonderkid holds no grudges after being denied Premier League shot

Luke Freeman spent four years at Arsenal and never made a single first team appearance.

Later in his career he would be bought by Sheffield United for what was then a club record fee, but he was limited to just a handful of Premier League outings in his time with the Yorkshire side. Now, the midfielder is back in the Championship and setting about a fresh start at plucky Luton Town.

When quizzed on whether he feels he should have made more appearances in the top flight, the 30-year-old told Luton Today : "It's ifs, buts and maybes. We can all say 'if only this didn't happen or that didn't happen,' I think if you ask any player as a kid, any dream is to play Premier League and I've managed to do that on numerous occasions.

"Maybe it wasn't as long-lived as I wanted it to be, but I've still achieved everything I've wanted to achieve as a player and young boy growing up. I've still got many years in me, but for the time being I'm here, I've really enjoyed being here and I think we've got a real good thing going, I think we can build on last year and improve.

"I have every faith in my ability, I've never not stopped believing in my ability, it's just how it is. I've got a clean slate and I'm relishing it. I haven't got a vendetta on anyone to prove anything, I don't feel like I need to personally. I'm probably over 400 games deep, so I wouldn't say it's something that I need to prove, it's just something that I need to put behind me and almost start afresh and get back to my old self."

Freeman was signed from Gillingham by former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger in 2008 for a fee reported to be £200,000. He was just 15 at the time and had not long made his senior debut, appearing for the Gills in an FA Cup tie as the youngest-ever player to feature in the competition. He struggled to make the breakthrough at Arsenal though, and after a few loan spells he joined Stevenage permanently in 2012. Successful spells at Bristol City and QPR followed but the last three campaigns have seen Freeman starved of regular football.

He played just 11 league games in his first season at Bramall Lane, then 19 times during a loan spell out at Nottingham Forest in the 2020-21 campaign. Last season he played just five league games, featuring just once in a nightmare loan spell at Millwall that saw him stalked by injury concerns.

His contract with the Blades expired this summer and after a trial with the Hatters he was handed a contract. He featured in Luton's opening day Championship goalless draw with Birmingham last weekend, playing 69 minutes.

Luton were beaten play-off semi-finalists last term and have made it clear they intend to push again, meaning another crack at life in the Premier League could await Freeman once more.