Oxford United have confirmed the signing of Liverpool midfielder, Cameron Brannagan on a three and half year contract. Brannagan showed gratitude over his 16-year stint with the Reds on Twitter and is ready to enter the next phase of his professional career.
The 21-year-old is a product of the Liverpool youth academy having joined the club when he was just five. He drew great praise from current club manager, Jurgen Klopp and was expected to stay and prove himself for a senior team selection. However, the decision to leave is not hard to comprehend for a player who has not made a single appearance for the first team under the German. Branagan has been restricted to just 500 minutes of game time for the U23 side with 2 goals and 1 assists to his name this season.
He made his debut for the club against Bordeaux on 17 September 2015 in the UEFA Europa League fixture. The club even rejected a £1m bid from Wigan Athletic for the Manchester-born ace ahead of the 2016/17 season expecting him to break into the squad. But after bouts of injuries, he could only earn himself a loan move to Fleetwood Town in January. He did extract quite a bit of League One experience after making 14 appearances for the Cod Army and came back to Anfield ready to climb the career ladder.
Brannagan was quoted, “It’s sad to be leaving Liverpool after such a long time but this is a really exciting challenge. Oxford play good football and I want to come here, play regular football, and help Oxford as much as I can,”
His arrival can make a considerable impact on the U’s in their chase for promotion through the playoffs this season. They are currently stagnated in the 10th spot of the points table and 3 points behind Portsmouth. Their midfield is heavily stacked with a lot of young players like Josh Ruffles, Jack Payne, Joe Rothwell and Ryan Ledson to name a few. However, somebody might have to make an exit now that a big money signing has arrived from a top-pedigree side.
Josep Clotet Ruiz will have to restructure the squad around before the league tie against Walsall on Saturday. “He has excellent technique, a good understanding of the game and a real hunger to do well.”
They brazed past Blackpool last week with an 80th-minute header from Jonathan Obika after exiting the FA Cup in a 0-2 loss to Port Vale at Vale Park.
