Despite achieving a long-awaited promotion back to the second-tier of the domestic game last season, Oxford United could find themselves subjected to a summer raid as Swansea City are reportedly interested in 15-goal forward Mark Harris.
Alan Nixon’s recent Patreon report revealed the shock interest from Swansea, which will keep Oxford on their toes after seeing Wembley hero Josh Murphy depart for fellow Championship newcomers Portsmouth last week.
Swansea-born Harris scored 19 goals across all competitions to play a key role in the U’s ascension under Liam Manning, although a potential move to the Swansea.com Stadium would render him a hugely controversial figure among Cardiff City supporters after coming through the Bluebirds’ youth system and making 95 senior appearances.
His time at Cardiff invites a further element of surprise towards Swansea’s interest, with the Welsh international failing to establish any form of goalscoring regularity in the Championship.
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Mark Harris’ Championship stats for Cardiff City, as per FotMob |
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Season |
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
|
2016/17 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
2020/21 |
16 |
3 |
1 |
|
2021/22 |
34 |
3 |
1 |
|
2022/23 |
35 |
3 |
0 |
Carlton Palmer delivers verdict on Swansea City’s transfer interest in Oxford United’s Mark Harris
Speaking exclusively to Football League World, EFL Pundit Carlton Palmer did note the accomodation of potential improvement that comes with Harris’ age, but expressed concerns over the forward’s disappointing prior track record in the division.
“Swansea City are believed to be taking an interest in Oxford United’s Welsh striker Mark Harris,” he explained.
“His previous stints in the Championship have not really been good, but he’s still young at 25.
“His previous time in the Championship saw him struggle with a minimal nine goals in 87 appearances, but the thought is that he’s young enough that he can go on and score goals in the Championship.
“Oxford won’t want to let him go and you would think they’ll be wanting an excessive fee with him because he’s still got two years left on his contract and he started 42 of the 46 games they played in their promotion winning season.
“It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, although he was not prolific in the Championship, in League One he notched 15 goals and 19 in all competitions.
“We’re yet to see whether he’d be a good signing, you could still say ‘he’s still developing at 25, can he come in and score the goals for Swansea?’
“We’d have to see.
“Swansea and Oxford are going to be in the same league and it might be one of those where Oxford look at it and think ‘if we get a good offer for him we’ll let him go’, knowing that he’s not been prolific in the Championship before.
“But he was a big part of Oxford getting promotion last season, so I think it would take a huge offer for Oxford to consider letting him go.
Swansea City shouldn’t pursue transfer interest in Oxford United’s Mark Harris
Although Harris’ goalscoring feats in League One last season undeniably played an important role in Oxford’s promotion, it would be a tall order to realistically expect him to step up to the Championship.
He’s one of those players who appears stuck in between, too good for one division but not quite at the level for the one higher up – think back to Dwight Gayle in between the Championship and Premier League in years gone by, for example.
Palmer does raise a fair argument regarding his age, but it’s probably wise to wait another season or two before making what appears to be a real risk given how much he’s struggled in the Championship previously.
Some will point out that Cardiff significantly struggled during that time and were battling against relegation throughout Harris’ two full seasons as a frequent first-teamer, but, on the other hand, their strikers were hardly deprived of service in 2020/21 and 2021/22 with creators in-chief such as Harry Wilson and Ryan Giles at the club on loan.
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FLW’s Derby County fan pundit is delighted with the potential deal to bring Jerry Yates to Pride Park from Swansea City.
With Jerry Yates – who vastly underperformed last term after arriving from Blackpool – set to join Championship rivals Derby County and last season’s loanee Jamal Lowe since, having moved on to Sheffield Wednesday on a permanent deal, Swansea admittedly need a striker, and fast.
However, the evidence suggests that, at this stage, Harris isn’t likely to be the answer to Luke Williams’ wishes.