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 reportedly keen on a reunion with Sheffield Wednesday’s versatile wide player Marvin Johnson.

Johnson enjoyed a brief, but highly fruitful 12-month spell with the U’s between August 2016-17, and with the 33-year-old out of contract at Hillsborough next summer, his former employers are weighing up a move for him.

It has been revealed by The Star that the left-sided player is being targeted by other clubs, whilst journalist Darren Witcoop has reported that both Derby County and Oxford United are in the mix.

His six goals and eight assists in 52 appearances in all competitions for the U’s during the 2016/17 season saw him develop into one of League One’s most dangerous wide players, and subsequently earned him a £2.5m move to Middlesbrough.

But with Johnson now firmly in the twilight years of his career, would Oxford be signing the same player they once had, and would he be a good addition to Des Buckingham’s squad?

Football League World investigates…

Oxford Utd fan pundit: “We have better options”

FLW’s Oxford United fan pundit, Andrew Taylor, believes that whilst Johnson would add Championship experience to the squad, something that is always welcome for a newly promoted side, the combination of his age and the current left-back options in the squad should see the club pass on a deal for him.

Taylor said: “Strange one. 33 years of age, versatile, but we’ve got two left-backs already in Joe Bennett – very experienced – and Gregory Leigh.

“So would we go and recruit a third left-back? Or is it, recruitment in mind, a system change? I don’t know.

“My overall thoughts are move on. 33-years old, I think we have better options, and he’ll probably command a high wage.

“But if we were to sign him, it would be very much needed Championship experience. But, my overall thoughts are, surely we’ve got better options already?”

The numbers suggest Johnson could be better option than Bennett and Leigh

Creating enough chances and scoring goals is going to be vital if Oxford are to survive in the Championship this season, and Johnson has proven he can bring both of those qualities to his team.

With Bennett being 34, Johnson does just have the age advantage on the former Wigan defender, and he’s also been playing a considerable amount of games more than Bennett in recent seasons too.

Over the course of Johnson’s three full seasons as a Sheffield Wednesday player, the former Middlesbrough man has made 44, 51 and 30 appearances in all competitions between 2021/22-2023/24 respectively.

In that same time period, Bennett has made 22, 16 and 14 respectively, with 2020/21 being the last time he made 30 appearances in a single campaign in all competitions.

Bennett failed to register a single goal or assist in either of the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns, whilst in that same time, Johnson was able to provide seven goals and 11 assists just in the league alone.

Whilst Leigh made 33 appearances in League One last season, scoring six times and notching one assist, perhaps suggesting he would likely be Johnson’s stiffest competition at left-back should he sign.

But with Bennett being fairly restricted to a defensive role, Johnson’s ability to play higher up the pitch as well as in defence would offer Buckingham that extra piece of cover in one or two more positions.

Leigh can operate further up the pitch too, but he has been more commonly deployed as a traditional left-back in recent times with a license to go forward.

Therefore, whilst Bennett may be slightly more solid as a defender, and Leigh having proven himself to be capable of scoring goals, Johnson’s all-round game and the different strings he would add to Oxford’s and Buckingham’s bow would surely mean his arrival would be a welcome addition to the squad.

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