Hatters prospect signs professional forms today
Luton Town are delighted to announce that another of last season’s successful youth team has signed his first professional contract, with 17-year-old defender Akin Famewo putting pen to paper at Ely Way today.
The second-year scholar travelled to Hungary for the recent pre-season training camp and was handed his first taste of senior match action by manager Nathan Jones in the goalless draw with Paksi FC.
Hatters fans got a glimpse of the left-sided centre-half during Saturday’s 9-0 friendly win at Bedford Town, with Famewo looking assured alongside his colleague from last term’s double-winning youth team, Frankie Musonda, at the heart of defence.
The Beeston-based player told lutontown.co.uk: “It’s a dream come true to finally sign my first pro contract. It’s a tick – a small step in the right direction – and hopefully there are many more to come.
“I was just going into Under-10s when I joined the club and it feels a long time ago! I’ve come through every single step from centre of excellence to here now, so I definitely don’t take it for granted.”
Making his way out onto the Ely Way training ground to conduct this interview, Akin received an impromptu round of applause from a small group of senior players, including fellow central defender Johnny Mullins.
Asked how he has found settling into the senior squad, Akin went on: “They’ve all been so nice and supportive. When I was walking out here to do this interview they were all clapping me and saying congratulations. It’s just a good environment.
“I feel this team this year is very close, especially because we went away on tour together and were forced to around each other constantly, so it was good bonding.
“I’m always going to them after training and asking them for pointers, because they’ve got the knowledge and experience. It’s great to be around people who know so much and can teach me so much.”
Akin follows Musonda, goalkeeper Liam Gooch, right-back James Justin and midfielders Tyreeq Bakinson and Alex Atkinson in signing first-year professional forms in recent weeks.
“This is a reward for the progress Akin’s shown for the time that I’ve been here, and even before I came," said Town boss Jones.
“The youth team were very successful last year, which enabled him to come into our eye and since he’s been on our radar, he’s done very well. We took him away and he didn’t look out of place. He’s getting better day by day.
“We saw in the game the other day that as a centre-half, he’s an excellent prospect. But he’s one that we want to invest a lot of time in, and one that we hope will get even better.
“He has lots of good attributes – he’s big, strong, very aggressive, mobile, left-footed – and this gives him an opportunity to train at an increased tempo, at an increased level, to try and push him on to where we want him to be.
“We are delighted that his family and the people who look after him have trusted us with him, because he’s one who would attract a certain amount of attention.
“But we see a pathway here and it reiterates that if they are good enough, they’ll get opportunities. Akin sees that. He has a real desire to do well for Luton Town and that’s the type we want here.
“We’re delighted to have him and we hope that he’s going to be at Luton for a long time and going to be very successful here.”