Tahith Chong, the former Manchester United winger now at Luton, suffered a frightening head injury during the clash with Plymouth. The 24 year old was seen collapsing in the penalty area after a clash of heads while attempting to win a header.
The incident caused immediate concern as he lay motionless on the turf.
Luton’s medical team were quick to respond, sprinting onto the pitch with a stretcher to attend to the stricken player. In a relief to fans and teammates alike, Chong managed to walk off the pitch, despite the visible swelling on his head, and was substituted for Jacob Brown at half-time.
A statement from Luton Town FC on Twitter provided an update: “Tahith was able to walk to the dressing room after a period on the floor during stoppage time of the first half.”
Chong, who moved to Luton from Birmingham City last summer, has been a key figure for the Hatters, making 38 appearances and scoring five goals across all competitions as they faced relegation from the Premier League. This season, he has already made eight appearances, including scoring in the opening day defeat to Burnley.
The Dutchman began his football journey with Feyenoord’s youth setup before securing a move to Manchester United. His time at Old Trafford included 16 first-team outings and loan spells at Werder Bremen, Club Brugge, and Birmingham, where he eventually signed on a permanent basis.
The player opened up about his departure from Manchester United in 2022, revealing: “Of course it [Manchester United] is one of the biggest clubs in the world but eventually you have to look at yourself as well in terms of your career, what you want to achieve. For me I got to the stage I am at an age where I want to play games.
“As a player you develop when you play games, you develop to an extent when you are training every day but at the end of the day your bread and butter is going to be games. If you are not getting that or you play once and then not again for four or five weeks, sometimes that’s not enough.
“For me anyway it was a logical decision if I am not going to get game time here I need to get game time somewhere else. In terms of my career, you have goals and stuff you want to achieve and to do that you have to play games.
“I did the pre-season with United and speaking to my family, United themselves, I felt I wanted to get to a stage where I do that, you want to perform week in week out and keep developing as a player. We felt this was the right thing to do.”
