Gossip: Barkley nears Premier League returnpublished at 07:42 BST 4 June 2024

Aston Villa look set to complete a £5m deal to sign 30-year-old England midfielder Ross Barkley from Luton Town. (talkSPORT), external


Aston Villa look set to complete a £5m deal to sign 30-year-old England midfielder Ross Barkley from Luton Town. (talkSPORT), external

Everton have registered their interest in re-signing 30-year-old Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley, but they are set to lose out to Aston Villa. (Football Insider), external

Aston Villa have agreed a two-year deal, with the option of a further year, with 30-year-old English midfielder Ross Barkley, who can leave Luton Town after their relegation from the Premier League. (Football Insider), external
Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column
Image source, ReutersHow closely have you been paying attention to the Hatters' Premier League season?
Check out our Luton Town quiz - and see if your knowledge is in order.
Image source, Getty ImagesLuton Town's Premier League season was blighted by a significant number of injuries.
As Rob Edwards fought to keep the Hatters in the top-flight, they were missing 11 players in one game week, which is the joint-highest recorded in the campaign.
Research conducted for more than 20 years by the Premier Injuries website, external suggests that the total number of individual injuries across the league, where a player missed at least one Premier League game, was the highest they had recorded.
Many players suffered more than one injury.
Over the course of the season there were 35 separate injuries to players and 18 of Edwards' 26-man squad were ruled out at some point.
They missed a combined total of 1,428 days.
Although Luton were not the hardest-hit, in terms of injury numbers, the data suggests that they suffered a lot of injuries in a short period of time.
Read the full breakdown of injuries in the 2023-24 Premier League season
Image source, Getty ImagesLuton Town have announced five players will be leaving the club at the end of their contracts.
Dan Potts, who has been with the club since 2015, and Luke Berry, who joined in 2017, are the two longest-serving players set to depart.
Fred Onyedinma, Elliot Thorpe and Admiral Muskwe will also be leaving at the end of their contracts.
