Oxford United head coach Gary Rowett has seemingly admitted defeat in the pursuit of Hull City winger Ryan Longman.
The U’s are looking to strengthen their squad before the end of the transfer window in order to maintain their strong debut campaign in the Championship. Heavily touted for relegation before the beginning of the season, Oxford have surprised many, with their 3-2 win over Luton Town last night lifting them to 14th.
The League One play-off winners still have work to do though. There is just nine points separating them and the bottom three. The unpredictable nature of the second tier means that things can change quickly, hence why reinforcements are being targeted.
Rowett Gives Up On Reunion
Longman is a player in which Rowett knows well. He was the man who brought him to Millwall last season on a season-long loan. There time together was cut short though, with the 50-year-old leaving The Den in October 2023.
The 24-year-old looks set to leave the MKM Stadium this month after Ruben Selles sanctioned his exit. It looked as if a move to Oxford was on the cards in a move which would see the player reunited with his former boss. However, League One promotion chasers Wrexham reportedly ransacked the transfer by coming in with a last minute bid worth £500,000.
Via The Herald Series, Rowett addressed the situation:
“He’s a player that I’ve worked with before. I think he’s got obvious qualities. He was a player we were certainly interested in, but I don’t expect us to do that deal and sign that player.
“We’ve had lots of targets and lots of deals that we’re potentially trying to get down the line. Certainly he was just one of those.
“You see it where we’ve got plenty of players on our bench who haven’t maybe had as much game time as we’ve spoke about.
“Ole [Romeny] is one of those who came into the squad. He’s certainly got a lot of quality as well. Idris [El Mizouni] is one that hasn’t got on the pitch much and he’s got a lot of quality.
“We’ll look to the market, but we’ve also got players here that want game time and want the opportunity. It’s always a balancing act.”
Writer’s View
Things are never certain in football and although it appeared at one point that Longman was set to move to the Kassam Stadium, it didn’t quite work out. Still, Rowett seems confident that there is still value in the market whilst also encouraging his fringe players to make the step up.
