The 24-year-old Slovenian striker initially arrived on loan in the summer of 2025 and has since made 19 appearances, scoring once in a 3–1 win over Bristol City.

He was then signed permanently in February, Oxford triggering their option to buy.

Prelec has now left the club for an undisclosed fee.

The departure comes after United were hit with a temporary transfer embargo which will see them unable to register any new signings, including loans and free transfers, until the January window.

Prelec previously played for WSG Tirol in Austria and Serie A club Sampdoria before joining Cagliari and then the U’s.

The Foxes suffered relegation under ex-U’s head coach Gary Rowett, finishing 23rd in the table with Oxford in 22nd, and will play in League One next season.

Leicester recently appointed former Rangers and Southampton boss Russell Martin to replace Rowett and are now set to sign the experienced Ings.

Meanwhile, Oxford are set to be hit with a temporary transfer embargo for issues relating to League One’s Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP).

According to The Telegraph, Leicester are on the verge of signing Ings on a one-year deal.

The 33-year-old will join the club after strikers Jordan Ayew and Patson Daka were both released following relegation.

Ings started out at AFC Bournemouth before moving to Burnley and impressing leading to a move to Premier League giants Liverpool.

He then joined boyhood club Southampton before joining Aston Villa in 2021.

A move to West Ham United came two years later before spending last season at Sheffield United in the Championship.

Ings now moves to the King Power Stadium in the third tier with a lot of striker movement occurring across the division this week after Louie Barry joined Sheffield Wednesday from Villa earlier on Thursday.

Oxford have made just one signing so far this summer in free agent Frankie Kent who arrived after leaving Scottish side Heart of Midlothian at the end of last season.

The club confirmed that they had been handed a transfer embargo – which restricts the registering of new players – by the EFL after admitting they are not compliant with EFL Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) regulations.

The embargo comes two weeks after the appointment of former Arsenal and Premier League star as their new head coach, replacing Matt Bloomfield was sacked three days prior.

The U’s squad had returned to Oxford last week as pre-season got underway, with the Yellows’ only new signing – centre back Frankie Kent, formerly of Heart of Midlothian in Scotland – joining up with his new teammates.

In a new statement issued by the club, United revealed that no signings would be made until the January transfer window as shareholders ‘increase investment over the coming months’.

“SCMP, the EFL’s financial control framework specific to League One and League Two clubs, sets limits on the proportion of a club’s turnover and owner funding that can be spent on player-related costs,” the statement read.

Oxford United CEO Tim Williams (left), head coach Aaron Ramsey (centre) and head of football operations Ed Waldron (right) (Image: Newsquest)

“Following relegation from the Championship, and with rule changes removing the staggered approach to equity injections,the club have been working to align their financial position with the reporting requirements of League One.

“With a commitment from shareholders to increase investment into Oxford United over the coming months, along with measures to reduce overall costs, the club will be compliant and in a strong position ahead of the January transfer window. 

“The club have an extremely competitive squad already in place and the focus this summer will be on retaining those players that give Aaron Ramsey and his staff the strongest group possible to deliver success on the pitch this season.”

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There is now extra pressure on the club to retain the players they do currently have contracted.

The U’s had been linked to a number of other names already this summer transfer window, many of whom are free agents, such as Oxford-born former Cheltenham Town winger Jordan Thomas and ex-Peterborough United star Archie Collins.

(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

However, free agents will not be allowed to sign with the restriction being on registering players altogether.

Supporters trust OxVox issued a statement prior to the U’s, saying that the news is “worrying and unsettling at a time when the new manager needs to be focused solely on recruitment and pre season”.

Ramsey’s Yellows head to Spain on Sunday for a warm-weather training camp before four pre-season friendlies, with competitive action beginning on August 8 in the Carabao Cup.