[2] His replacement Pep Clotet, formerly assistant manager at Leeds United,[3] in contrast to Appleton's policy of signing promising young British players, signed a mix of foreign players,[4] among them Dwight Tiendalli, Xemi Fernández, Ivo Pękalski, Agon Mehmeti and Ricardinho (the first Brazilian to play for Oxford), and seasoned British pros including Jonathan Obika from rivals Swindon Town, James Henry, Mike Williamson and John Mousinho.
A number of influential players, among them Chey Dunkley, Liam Sercombe, top scorer Chris Maguire, captain John Lundstram and record signing Marvin Johnson, left the club.
Striker Kane Hemmings and defender Charlie Raglan were given season-long loans at Mansfield Town and Port Vale respectively.
During the January transfer window, Payne was recalled by his parent club, Xemi was released from his contract and Robert Dickie and Cameron Brannagan were signed from Reading and Liverpool respectively.
Three young loanees were recruited from Premier League clubs: Isaac Buckley-Ricketts and Ashley Smith-Brown from Manchester City and Todd Kane from Chelsea.
For the second season running, goalkeeper Simon Eastwood played every minute of every league game, though he was rested for a couple of EFL Trophy matches.