{"id":627283,"date":"2023-08-27T16:31:39","date_gmt":"2023-08-27T20:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=627283"},"modified":"2023-08-27T16:31:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T20:31:39","slug":"oxford-united-top-table-two-new-arrivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/08\/27\/oxford-united-top-table-two-new-arrivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford United Weekly Round-Up: Top of the Table and Two New Arrivals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It has been another remarkable week for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/08\/21\/oxford-united-back-to-back-league-wins\/\" target=\"_self\">Oxford United<\/a> as Liam Manning&#8217;s side continued their good form to move to the top of League One.<\/p>\n<p>Also this week, with the transfer window coming to a close, a U&#8217;s defender was linked with a move to a Premier League club before Manning welcomed two new faces at Grenoble Road.<\/p>\n<h2>Oxford United Weekly Round-Up: Top of the League and Two New Additions<\/h2>\n<h3>Defender Being Monitored By Premier League Club<\/h3>\n<p>Oxford defender Stephan Negru is being monitored by Premier League outfit, Brighton, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishmirror.ie\/sport\/soccer\/soccer-news\/brighton-identify-former-shelbourne-defender-30752117#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to Mark McCadden.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old, who only joined the club in January, has showcased his potential with some impressive displays in the absence of Jordan Thorniley.<\/p>\n<p>McCadden adds that Brighton are continuing their pursuit of Derby County defender, Eiran Cashin. However, the Seagulls have been chasing the Ireland U21 centre back all summer and have failed to reach an agreement with the Rams.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the south coast club have sent scouts to watch Negru in action for Oxford and are said to be impressed with his early season form.<\/p>\n<h3>Oxford United Winger Ruled Out With Injury<\/h3>\n<p>Oxford will be without winger Marcus Browne for &#8220;a few months&#8221;, Liam Manning has confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>The U&#8217;s wide man was forced off in the first half during Oxford&#8217;s win over Barnsley last week and the results of the scan have come back.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordmail.co.uk\/sport\/23745404.oxford-united-winger-marcus-browne-ruled-hamstring-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Speaking to the Oxford Mail<\/a>, Manning said: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t great news on Marcus. He\u2019s going to be out for a few months, so we\u2019re not going to see him for a little while.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a blow for him because I can\u2019t speak highly enough in terms of how much he\u2019s progressed, and his professionalism and how he\u2019s gone about his gym work, how he\u2019s taken care of his body and how he\u2019s trained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just really unfortunate for him. He\u2019d got himself into a good spot and was contributing massively to the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m gutted for him first and foremost, and gutted for the team because of what he\u2019d been bringing recently.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>U&#8217;s Make Ninth Summer Signing<\/h3>\n<p>Manning the. boosted his defensive options with the arrival of Greg Leigh from Ipswich Town.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old, who only joined the Tractor Boys last summer, became the club&#8217;s ninth summer signing after joining for an undisclosed fee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting. It\u2019s been a difficult, long process but it\u2019s good to get it over the line,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordmail.co.uk\/sport\/23744985.ipswich-town-left-back-greg-leigh-signs-oxford-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leigh told the U\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s [Liam Manning] a big attraction for players signing. Having a manager who has a good philosophy and a way of doing things that\u2019s proven to be successful is a big attraction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Manning added: \u201cGreg is a really accomplished left back and a terrific character. He brings that balance down the left, has had success at this level and knows the division.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Ciaron Brown doing so well there, we now have serious competition in that position, which will be another big positive for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>U&#8217;s <strong>Chasing<\/strong> Hull Winger<\/h3>\n<p>Oxford United&#8217;s pursuit of Hull City winger Ryan Longman has been confirmed after a report in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hulldailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/hull-city-transfer-window-state-8700246#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hull Daily Mail<\/a> suggested that the 22-year-old has &#8220;attracted interest&#8221; from the U&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>Longman held talks with Turkish S\u00fcper Lig club, Fatih Karigumruk, but opted against a move to pursue a transfer to another English club.<\/p>\n<p>The winger has been requested permission to leave by manager Liam Rosenior as he is unable to guarantee him enough game time.<\/p>\n<p>Longman joined the Tigers on a season-long loan from Brighton before penning a permanent deal in January 2022. He has turned out 73 times for the club, scoring seven and adding five assists. However, he is yet to make an appearance this season despite being on the bench for their opening two Championship fixtures.<\/p>\n<h3>Leeds Striker Joins Oxford United<\/h3>\n<p>On Friday, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhilHay_\/status\/1695023482843578592?s=19\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Athletic&#8217;s Phil Hay reported<\/a> that Oxford were &#8220;set to sign&#8221; Leeds striker, Sonny Perkins, on a season-long loan. A few hours later, they landed their man.<\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old, who made the move to Elland Road from West Ham last summer, made four senior appearances for Leeds, scoring once in an FA tie at Cardiff.<\/p>\n<p>Perkins made an instant impression for Leeds&#8217; U21 side, scoring 13 times in 24 appearances. He has also been capped at various youth levels for England.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordmail.co.uk\/sport\/23748022.leeds-united-forward-sonny-perkins-joins-oxford-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Speaking to the club&#8217;s official website,<\/a> Perkins\u00a0said: \u201cAs soon as the move was mentioned I did some homework, and the way Oxford set up and want to play is really appealing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have started the season strongly, the manager is really impressive and I can\u2019t wait to get started.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy 24 hours. I have been in conversation with the club for a couple of weeks.\u00a0I spoke to the manager and that was a big part of me coming here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited to be here to play regular league football and learn what it takes to be a regular at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manning added: \u201cHe is a very exciting talent, with the ability to play as a striker or across any of the front positions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is clever with the ball and has scored goals at every level. It has been another very positive week with Greg Leigh and now Sonny joining us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Four Wins From Four With Victory Over the Addicks<\/h3>\n<p>Oxford ended the week with a fourth successive league win for the first time since January 2021.<\/p>\n<p>A Tyler Goodrham brace against Charlton Athletic earned the U&#8217;s a 2-1 win at Grenoble Road.<\/p>\n<p>It was a brilliant solo effort from the academy graduate to give Oxford a first-half head but despite their first-half dominance, the U&#8217;s conceded after the restart. However, the youngster netted a late winner after a brilliant counter attack.<\/p>\n<p>The result leaves Oxford top of the table after their opening five games.<\/p>\n<p>Featured image: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/User:TwentiethApril1986\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TwentiethApril1986<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CC BY-SA 3.0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been another remarkable week for Oxford United as Liam Manning&#8217;s side continued their good form to move to the top of League One. Also this week, with the transfer window coming to a close, a U&#8217;s defender was linked with a move to a Premier League club before Manning welcomed two new faces [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":627291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8430,32,34],"tags":[779,9984,9983,9613],"class_list":["post-627283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oxford-united","category-league-football","category-league12","tag-charlton-athletic","tag-greg-leigh","tag-sonny-perkins","tag-stephan-negru"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}