Bristol City have been linked with a move for Oxford's 24-year-old midfielder Mark Sykes with the wheels firmly in motion ahead of an expected busy summer.
Bristol World report how conversations between the club and the player's representative have been held at the High Performance Centre with manager Nigel Pearson eager to waste little time in improving his squad.
Pearson has prioritised signing defenders this summer to improve City's defensive record but also referenced the need to add a goalscoring midfielder to help ease the burden on the attacking trio.
Sykes has enjoyed a career-best goalscoring tally for Oxford with eight and with his contract expiring in the summer, would be eyed as a relatively risk-free addition should he complete the move to Ashton Gate.
Bristol Live understands he is one of a number of names being considered by the Robins, as Pearson weighs up his options for the summer window but we spoke to Oxford Mail senior sports reporter James Roberts to get the lowdown on what supporters can expect if he does make the step up.
How would the supporters feel about Mark Sykes' departure?
As they've expected it for a while, it's not a great shock. To be fair to him, he's always been very honest about his aspirations. He wants to play at a higher level whether that's with Oxford or with anyone else.
While that can rub supporters up the wrong way, he's always been clear on what's likely to happen. I think there's a sour taste in the mouth from some fan's perspective, maybe they feel that because he has been at the club for a while he could have handled it a bit better.
Eight goals and five assists is his career-best and a dramatic improvement on last season's tally of zero goals and two assists. Is he a player who is showing big improvements in his game?
Absolutely, he came from Northern Ireland and he was probably 20 or 21 so he was quite raw. He's always had great technical ability and didn't really have an end product until this season.
I think he'd only scored three Oxford goals in two and a half seasons before this season which obviously isn't good enough for a No10/wide player. I think that end product has improved and he went on a really good run at the turn of the year but not just in goals but also assists especially from that right side.
That side of his game has definitely improved and you would imagine it would continue to do so. Having said that, that goal rush came around the turn of the year and the last couple of months he has kind of dropped off a little bit.
What are his strengths?
His touch and technical ability are great. He's probably one of the best in the Oxford squad on that front. He's got great energy as well which is why he was partly moved out to right wing-back when Karl Robinson started playing that system in January and February time.
He's got a good engine on him and I think he is deceivingly quick too. When you add that end product that he's had he can be a dangerous player because he can get up and down that right side, getting behind the defence and pulling the ball back.
When used correctly and in the right position he can be a real threat. He's also tenacious.
And his weaknesses...
I would probably say inconsistency. I think that has been the thing that has dogged him at Oxford, especially before this season.
Very few goals and assists in terms of those numbers and this season whilst he was really strong for the first half of the year he did drop off a little bit. I think his form has dropped in the last couple of months or so.
He can drift out of games as well, sometimes that is based on his position or the flow of the game but he is one of those players that you would see a great burst from him and then not much from him for the rest of the game.
It looks like he has corrected that this season and seems to be affecting the game consistently.
You mentioned he's played wing-back, what is his strongest position and where can City get the best out of Sykes?
I personally like him on the right of a front three but playing narrower. He's quite clever in his movement and on that right of the front three he's been playing a lot for Oxford.
Having said that, playing wing-back - energy-wise and going forward is definitely a strength and would sit well in that position. Defensively he's not a natural and prefers to play further forward so maybe they wouldn't get that straight away especially making the step up to the Championship.
He can also play in an 8 or a 10 in an advanced central midfield role but personally, at right-wing it would accentuate his strengths. He can be quite versatile, however.
Do you think personally he can make the step up to the Championship?
He definitely has the ability, I just think it's about knitting it together and that's the problem whenever anyone makes the step up.
But he has shown in bursts that he can be a really important player for Oxford but it's just about whether he can show that at a new club and a new environment, at a higher level and do it consistently.
I imagine they'll look at him as a bit more of a squad player and someone who starts a reasonable amount of games so he'll need to hit the ground running and show the consistency he showed in the first half of the season in the first half of next.
Are Bristol City likely to face a lot of competition for his signature?
From what I've read it appears so but I think Bristol City are about that level of club is about right for him in terms of lower-mid table. I'm sure they'll be similar clubs around that area who have looked at him, I'm told there has been interest and read that 'several' clubs are interested so reportedly, yes, but I think that's his sort of level especially making the step up to the Championship.
While we are here, do you think Elliot Moore to Bristol City is a possibility following previous speculation?
That surprised me a little. I thought the centre-back most likely to leave would be Luke McNally who is quite highly-rated and a couple of years younger.
Moore's contract expires this summer but Oxford will trigger the option and Karl Robinson has said that before, although that sometimes doesn't always make a difference if not just to get some money for him.
Sykes makes complete sense and at the time I'd been told there had been Championship interest whereas Moore is more of a surprise so I'd be interested to see how that one develops.
He's been a very good defender for Oxford but didn't seem like the one they would be worried about leaving.
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