Luton Town midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu’s place in the history books was cemented after it was confirmed that he had signed a new deal with the club.
The 29-year-old will mark ten years at Kenilworth Road in November and is set to be the first player to play in all of England’s top five leagues with the same club.
“It feels good to be back,” said Mpanzu on his return to The Brache. “Obviously we ended the season very well with promotion but it’s good to be back and seeing all the boys. It’s been good to get some training under my belt and hopefully get some game time ready for the Premier League.
“My break has been good, I’ve been away visiting a few countries, explored and had a really good time. Had my rest and recovery and I'm ready to get going again.”
Mpanzu joined the Hatters while the club were in the Conference from West Ham United and described many of the ups and downs during his stint at Luton Town.
“Luton has been my second home, it’s the only club I really know. We’ve been through some crazy experiences with ups and downs, a couple of losses like Blackpool in the League Two play-offs, the Championship play-off loss against Huddersfield Town. It was tough, but we’ve always come back, and we were glad to get over the line and look forward now to our first season in the Premier League.
“It’s about self-belief and to have confidence in yourself, with that confidence you can do anything in the world. There’s always going to be doubters and people that have their opinion, but I believe in myself and my ability. The club and the manager agree so I’ve got to repay the faith that they’ve put in me and keep trying to perform.”
The midfielder played 98 minutes in the Championship play-off final win at Wembley, Mpanzu explained his emotions throughout the game which sent Luton Town to the Premier League.
“I wasn’t nervous at all, when it came down to it, we just had to play our game,” he said. “I thought we dominated the first half, I really could have scored, Eli could have scored, Clicks scored, but it was a game of two halves.
“They came back in the second half, changed formation and scored.
“The penalties were mad, all the penalties were really good, and it was unlucky for Coventry that they missed but I can’t even describe the emotions when it happened. You don’t know if you want to cry or you want to be happy, it was mad and to see all my friends, family and the fans enjoying themselves was something that you cannot relive, sometimes it only happens once in your life and that was it.”