Le Tissier is widely considered one of Southampton’s best ever players and was a Premier League star in the 1990s, also managing eight caps for England.

Nicknamed “Le God” by Saints fans during his 16-year spell at the club, the 57-year-old scored 195 goals in 520 games as an attacking midfielder, 101 of those in the Premier League.

Le Tissier played at Oxford City’s Mgroup Stadium last Sunday in the DEBRA Charity Cup organised by Liverpool hero Graeme Souness, appearing alongside other big names such as Dean Saunders and Carlton Palmer.

Despite spending his entire professional career at St Mary’s, the ex-England international detailed the fact that he could have shone for the U’s rather than on the south coast.

“Oxford was the first club I was associated with,” Le Tissier confirmed to BBC Radio Oxford.

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak (right) speaks with former Southampton player Matt Le Tissier (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

“I came over as a 15-year-old back in 1984 and I moved to Oxford to live with a friend of my dad’s and went to school here. The idea was that I was going to train with the schoolboys in the evenings and at weekends.

“I didn’t settle in the school that I went to and after a couple of days I was too homesick and went back home.

“I was desperate to become a professional footballer so I wanted to give it a try. I also then had a trial with Southampton just after that and then Southampton decided they wanted to sign me.”

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Graeme Souness on the touchline at Oxford City (Image: Oxford City FC)

Le Tissier’s Oxford links do not end there, however.

“I came back a few years ago when Michael Appleton was manager and Oxford were having a bit of a crisis in the penalty-taking department. I think they’d missed about seven or eight in a row,” he said.

“Dave Jones, the presenter at Sky, was on the board at the time and he said to me: ‘We’re struggling with penalties…come down and show the lads how you did it’. So, I did.

David Jones (left) with Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth in the directors’ box at the Kassam Stadium in October 2017 (Image: David Fleming)

“I went down on one Friday morning and showed them, and then on the Saturday I was on Soccer Saturday and Jeff Stelling throws to the game at Oxford and the presenter goes: ‘Oxford have just missed a penalty’.

“I was like, oh no, what have I done? Luckily for me, they never took the advice I gave them which was never hit it down the middle because I always went either side.”

The culprit that day was former Yellows forward Kemar Roofe who hit his spot kick down the centre of the goal and saw it saved in a 0-0 draw with Morecambe at the Kassam.

The U’s lost some key players after being relegated from the Championship, with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur striker Lankshear and Brentford midfielder Yunus Konak returning to their parent clubs.

Eastwood says the club must replace these players with quality whilst keeping their ‘core’.

The 36-year-old goalkeeper recently signed a new contract in OX4 as a coach, helping the next generation of shot-stopper whilst still training with the first team and to support the goalkeeping department.

“I’m happy to be here still,” Eastwood told The Dub, BBC Radio Oxford.

“Hopefully I can be here for a long time to give back my knowledge I’ve got over the years with this club. In League One, things happen, there are a lot of games in different competitions and I’m sure that if I’m called upon, I could come in and do a job when needed.

🧤 Simon Eastwood Signs New Coaching Contract.

Easty will officially help to coach the next generation of Oxford United goalkeepers and will continue to train with the Men’s Team to support the First Team goalkeepers. ⤵️

— Oxford United (@OUFCOfficial) May 27, 2026

“Will Lankshear, who probably won’t be coming back, will be a massive loss. Players like that, for me, we need to replace with good quality to get us some goals to get us straight back up.”

Oxford United striker Will Lankshear has returned to parent club Spurs (Image: Jason Dawson)

The veteran keeper is close with Yellows captain Cameron Brannagan, with the duo two of the longest-serving players at the club.

“I speak to Cam on a daily basis. He obviously loves the club as well, he’s been here a long time.

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Simon Eastwood signs new Oxford United player-coach contract (Image: James Williamson)

“He’s absolutely devastated to go down and he wants to be a Championship player, wants to play in the Championship, wants to do it with Oxford. As a team, we just need to bounce back as quickly as we can. Hopefully we can keep our core and our best players.”

Eastwood has been at the club for 10 years now after joining in 2016, his second spell with the club.

His first spell was an unsuccessful year in 2010/11 where he was second fiddle to Ryan Clarke and failed to make an appearance before being released.

“I’m very realistic and open about my career.

Cameron Brannagan on the ball for Oxford United (Image: Mike Allen)

“I’m not a Championship keeper. Five or 10 years ago, maybe I could’ve given it a good shot.

“Could I come in and do a job for a game or so? I think I could. But to be consistently playing, week-in, week-out, I probably don’t think I’m there anymore in the Championship.

“League One, I think, is a little bit different in the sense of I’m still good enough to…I’ve obviously played a lot of games in League One since I’ve been at Oxford and I know the standard.

“We’ve got two really good goalkeepers in Jamie [Cumming] and Matt [Ingram] at the moment, so I was never going into training every day or knocking on the manager’s door thinking I should be playing.”

The U’s are looking to strengthen after suffering relegation from the Championship last season, finishing 22nd in the table.

It was recently suggested by Austria’s largest newspaper, The Krone , that Wien rejected a bid of just over €2 million from the Yellows for Barry’s services.

Geniestreiche treffen auf Bescheidenheit, Ruhe trifft auf Fröhlichkeit. Und heute ganz besonders, denn Abubakr Barry feiert seinen 25. Geburtstag – alles Gute, Abu! 🥳💜#faklive pic.twitter.com/suIAcIDz0v

— FK Austria Wien (@FKAustriaWien) July 2, 2025

Championship club Stoke have since reportedly submitted a bid worth €3 million, whilst Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg also bidding between €3 and €4 million for the 25-year-old.

Salzburg are reportedly remaining persistent in their efforts to sign Barry and Sky Sport Austria have said the prospect of the midfielder remaining at his current club is ‘increasingly unlikely’.

Im Tauziehen um die Zukunft von Abu #Barry bleibt @RedBullSalzburg hartnäckig. Eine Zukunft @FKAustriaWien wird immer unrealistischer. #inundaut #faklive @Transferic_Sky

— Johannes Brandl (@Sky_Johannes) June 2, 2026

With the Gambian’s price having been driven up since the U’s apparent rejected bid, it is tough to see how Oxford can compete with the finances and alure of Championship football with Stoke and even Europa League action with Salzburg.

Barry played 28 times in the Austrian Bundesliga last term, scoring four goals and bagging four assists.

After joining the Violets in 2024, the Gambia international reportedly has one year left on his contract in Vienna.