{"id":657355,"date":"2025-07-27T15:56:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T19:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=657355"},"modified":"2025-07-27T15:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T19:56:24","slug":"oxford-united-transfer-news-pre-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/07\/27\/oxford-united-transfer-news-pre-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford United Weekly Round-Up: Transfer News, Pre-Season Friendlies and Stadium Delay"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a busy week for Oxford United<\/a> who have returned to England to continue their pre-season ahead of the new campaign.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the U’s have been linked with a couple of players, have made a third signing of the summer and and have some bad news regarding off the pitch matters.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: Fulham Midfielder Luke Harris Joins Oxford United on Season-Long Loan<\/a><\/p>\n

Oxford United Weekly Round-Up: Pre-Season on Home Soil, Transfer News and Stadium Delay<\/h2>\n

U’s Linked With Fulham Midfielder<\/h3>\n

On Monday, Oxford were linked with a move for Fulham midfielder, Luke Harris, according to Jack Kelly.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The 20-year-old, who has represented Wales at various youth levels, has spent time on loan at Exeter and Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Kelly has turned out four times for Fulham in the Premier League, and had previously been linked with a move to West London rivals Chelsea who were prepared to offer \u00a330 million<\/a> for the midfielder back in 2022.<\/p>\n

Kelly states that the U’s could land the promising youngster on loan ahead of the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n

Oxford Edge Past the Stags<\/h3>\n

Oxford kicked off their pre-season campaign back in England with a 1-0 win over Mansfield on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Tom Bradshaw netted the game’s only goal inside the opening two minutes, with Brian De Keersmaecker laying on the assist.<\/p>\n

There was a debut from the start for right-back Brodie Spencer, while Greg Leigh also got his first minutes of the summer on the left.<\/p>\n

Ciaron Brown and Siriki Dembele were still absent from the squad while Przemyslaw Placheta, who was named on the bench, didn’t feature with a muscle injury.<\/p>\n

Despite a handful of youthful changes in the second half, the U’s held on against a strong Mansfield side to claim the victory.<\/p>\n

Another Stadium Delay<\/h3>\n

On Wednesday, Oxford suffered another stadium setback with a delay to their planning application.<\/p>\n

The statement read<\/a>: “Oxford United are disappointed to learn from Cherwell District Council of yet further delays to the hearing of our new stadium planning application.<\/p>\n

“This has been caused by factors completely outside of the Club\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

Jonathon Clarke, Development Director at Oxford United, said: \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating that this delay has been caused by a last-minute submission from a statutory consultee, particularly given they had previously raised no objections to the application.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we have provided comprehensive evidence addressing the points raised. This is an incredibly detailed, robust application.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue our work towards a positive recommendation as we await a new committee date.”<\/p>\n

U’s Linked With Slovenian Striker<\/h3>\n

Oxford were linked with a move for Slovenian striker, Nik Prelec, according to Florian Plettenberg.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The 24-year-old joined Cagliari in 2023, but has spent time on loan at former club WSG Tirol and Austria Wien in the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

He’s under contract with the Serie A side until 2027 after signing a new deal last summer.<\/p>\n

Oxford Sign Fulham Midfielder<\/h3>\n

On Friday, Oxford confirmed the signing of Fulham midfielder, Luke Harris.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old, who is a Wales U21 international, joined the U’s on a season-long loan.<\/p>\n

The Welshman spent the second half of the 2023\/24 campaign on loan at Exeter, where he scored four goals and added two assists in 21 League One appearances.<\/p>\n

The midfielder spent last season on loan at title-winning Birmingham, scoring three times in 29 league games.<\/p>\n

Speaking to OUTV after signing<\/a>, he said: \u201cI\u2019m delighted to be here. I just can\u2019t wait to get started. It\u2019s good to be in to meet the boys, now I\u2019m just ready to get going.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a player who wants to try and get into the box as much as possible and get on the end of things to score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played a number of times in the Wales set up and I feel that will benefit me here at Oxford United. I hope all my football to date will put me in good stead for this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had good experience going out and playing men\u2019s first team football. It was a good experience for me last season to win the league, even though I feel I didn\u2019t play as much as I wanted to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait for this challenge and I\u2019m looking forward to showing the fans what I can do when I get out on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach, Gary Rowett, said: \u201cLuke is a real high level young player who we are excited to work with.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast season, I watched a lot of Luke having kept a close eye on Birmingham City. He is a player with a lot of quality on the ball and someone who wants to take risks at the top end of the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a lot of first team experience in the EFL for his age. We want to sign players that can have an immediate impact, and we feel Luke is ready to be a positive influence in our group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prelec ‘Has Been Loaned’ to Oxford United<\/h3>\n

Following on from the news earlier in the week, Italian media<\/a> claimed that striker Nik Prelec had “been loaned” to the U’s.<\/p>\n

The report claims that the Slovenian would join Oxford on loan but the Championship club would have an obligation to buy if they stay in the second tier, with a fee of around \u20ac1 million.<\/p>\n

Prelec hadn’t traveled with Cagliari for their pre-season training camp in Ponte di Legno.<\/p>\n

U’s Lose Against the Gas<\/h3>\n

Oxford ended the week with a pre-season friendly defeat at home against Bristol Rovers.<\/p>\n

There were home debuts for Jack Currie, Brian De Keersmaecker and recent signing, Luke Harris, while trialist Allan Campbell featured again after his second half outing at Mansfield.<\/p>\n

The U’s conceded the only goal of the game late on at Grenoble Road as Gary Rowett’s side prepare to face two Spanish sides next week.<\/p>\n

Academy Graduate Pens Professional Contract<\/h3>\n

On Sunday, highly-rated academy graduate Jack Lee signed his first professional contract.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old, who joined the U’s from Crystal Palace in 2023, bagged 30 goals for the U18s last season.<\/p>\n

Speaking after signing,<\/a> he said: \u201cThis means a lot to me, and to my family. It\u2019s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point and it\u2019s nice to finally sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was picked up by Oxford when I played against the U15 side during my time at Crystal Palace. I came off the bench and scored and got an assist and after that I signed for the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast season I managed to get 30 goals, which was my target at the beginning of the year. We had an exceptional season for the U18s to get into two semi-finals and then to second in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to get experience from the first team now. Playing under this gaffer, I will learn a lot, and when I get to train with the first team I want to take as much as I can.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to see how people like Sparky and Tom Bradshaw train every day, and to ask them questions, I can develop my game so much from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to now train with the first team more and the ambition is to get another 30 goals with the Youth Academy and then make my Championship debut.\u201d<\/p>\n

U’s ‘Make Bid’ for Dutch Midfielder<\/h3>\n

Oxford have made a bid for Hererenven midfielder, Levi Smans, according to Sander de Vries.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the reports adds that the two clubs are no longer in contact, although Oxford’s interest remains on the 22-year-old.<\/p>\n

Smans joined De Superfriezen<\/em> on a four-year contract last summer from VVV-Venlo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a busy week for Oxford United who have returned to England to continue their pre-season ahead of the new campaign. Elsewhere, the U’s have been linked with a couple of players, have made a third signing of the summer and and have some bad news regarding off the pitch matters. Read More: Fulham […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":649558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":[8430,33,32],"tags":[32509,32510],"class_list":["post-657355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oxford-united","category-championship","category-league-football","tag-luke-harris","tag-nik-prelec"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657355","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=657355"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657358,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657355\/revisions\/657358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}