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He is certainly not without experience and has played in 25 Premiership matches for United as well as games in the two domestic cup competitions and the Champions League. Last season he added to that with a total of 17 appearances for Reading as they reached and played in the end of season play offs.
He made his first team debut for Manchester United in their Worthington Cup defeat at Aston Villa in October 1999, but then spent most of the remainder of the season on loan to United's Belgian partners, Royal Antwerp. In fact he scored on his debut for Antwerp, and repeated that feat on his debut for England Under-21s, in a 5-0 win over Luxembourg having previously been capped by the national team at Under-18 level.
He had initial success in Belgium and helped Royal Antwerp to gain promotion to the Belgian First Division in 2000 and then extended his loan spell there into the early part of the 2000/01 season.
On his return to Old Trafford in October 2000, he was almost immediately given another first team chance by Sir Alex Ferguson, again in the Worthington Cup. This time Luke helped the Reds to win 3-0 at Watford, with a performance that kept him in the first team squad for the rest of the 2000/01 season.
His Premiership debut came in November 2000at Old Trafford against Middlesbrough as a late substitute but shortly afterwards he made his first Premiership start in a 3-0 win at Derby, yes he knows all about winning at Pride Park.
But Manchester United is for now shelved and he is for the next season a Claret, the second to arrive from Old Trafford this summer following the permanent capture of Lee Roche.
Stan’s team building continues, and although it now looks as though we will miss out on Michael Stewart, as we predicted last night, the squad is seriously beginning to take shape.