Oxford United urged to sign Luton Town star this summer
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Oxford United are heading into the summer transfer window off the back of a successful first season back in the Championship.
The U’s were able to complete their main objective for their first season back in the second tier since 1998/99 – survival.
After parting company with previous manager Des Buckingham in mid-December, Gary Rowett was tasked with leading the club to safety, and a strong end to the campaign enabled them to record a 17th-placed finish.
As such, should Oxford get their recruitment right this summer, they could give themselves an excellent chance of firmly establishing themselves as a Championship club next term.
“Good fit” – Oxford United told to move for Luton Town star Carlton Morris
We asked our Oxford United fan pundit, Luke Nigel: ‘What is one realistic signing you’d love Oxford to make this summer and why?’
Luke said: “One realistic target I would like to see Oxford United go after this summer is Carlton Morris.
“He’s recently been relegated with Luton Town; the 29-year-old will surely be looking for another Championship club.
“He got 10 goal contributions last season in 41 league matches, but comes with a wealth of experience all the way from the Premier League, down to League Two, even having a previous loan stint at Oxford United where he featured 10 times.
“The reason I think this one would be a good fit for Oxford is Gary Rowett has already said in January that we were lacking a target man-style striker.
“Tom Bradshaw has come in and not added what we thought he would add. Meanwhile, Mark Harris looks set to be handed a new contract, but is a much more hardworking, running in-behind-type striker.
“I think Carlton Morris’ experience and style of play is something that I think would definitely benefit Oxford United going into next season.”
Oxford United could face stiff competition for Carlton Morris this summer if they want his signature
Despite enduring his worst goalscoring season as a Luton Town player this past campaign, Morris still found the back of the net eight times in the Championship.
The former England youth international has proven himself to be a quality marksman at second tier level, having bagged 20 goals in Luton’s promotion-winning 2022/23 season.
He’s even shown he can perform on English football’s biggest stage, having netted 11 times in 38 Premier League appearances in 2023/24.
| Morris’ Luton Town careers stats – per Transfermarkt | ||
|---|---|---|
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 137 | 39 | 16 |
Therefore, with him still being very much in the prime of his career at 29, Morris looks fairly certain to call time on his Hatters career this summer, as he is surely one who won’t harbour much interest in playing third tier football.
However, given his goalscoring accolades and proven record in the Championship, Oxford would surely face stiff competition for his signature from clubs across the division.
As such, this has the feeling of being a deal that could be very challenging for United to pull off, but if they did, it could hand them a prolific centre-forward to really help secure their second tier status next season.
Luton Town urged to make exit decision on 27-year-old and end difficult Kenilworth Road stay
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Mads Andersen was ever-present in the Barnsley squad for the four seasons he spent at Oakwell, and even captained the side at Wembley in the 2023 League One play-off final.
However, his time at Luton Town has been less than ideal. After starting three of the first four Premier League games in 2023/24 and scoring the first Premier League goal at Kenilworth Road, hamstring issues restricted him to just four more league appearances all season.
| Mads Andersen’s appearance count at Luton Town, per Transfermarkt | |
| Competition | Appearances |
| Premier League | 8 |
| Championship | 8 |
| EFL Cup | 3 |
This season, injuries have played a part in another season where the Dane has made just eight league appearances, but even then, 18 games as an unused substitute in the Championship this season implies that he simply hasn’t been deemed first-choice under Rob Edwards or Matt Bloomfield.
AftonBladet are reporting that a move to Malmö may be in the works for the 27-year-old and, if this is to be the case, cutting ties with Andersen ahead of next season’s League One campaign is probably the best thing the Hatters can do.
No hard feelings as Mads Andersen linked with move away from Luton Town
FLW’s Luton Town fan pundit, Simon Mills, knows that the upcoming season in League One will be very physically demanding on Luton’s players and, given Mads Andersen’s recent bad luck with injuries, doesn’t feel that he is up to scratch.
However, saying that, Simon feels that if Andersen were to depart, he would leave with the best wishes of everyone in the stands at Kenilworth Road.
“I’ve got nothing against Mads Andersen,” he said. “By all accounts, he had a stellar time at Barnsley before we signed him, but the Luton Town injury curse struck him, and he seems to be injured far too much.
“We need players available, especially in League One, where it is incredibly physical and challenges go in hard and fast. We need players up to that physical scrutiny.”
On a potential move to Malmö, Simon said: “I think a move there would be great for Mads as he gets to move closer to home and great for Luton as well, as we spent a lot of money on him by our standards.
“He’ll leave with no bad feelings, and I hope he does well elsewhere.”
