Football
Exclusive: Middlesbrough and Oxford Plot Move for Luton’s Cauley Woodrow
Middlesbrough and Oxford United are vying for Luton Town striker Cauley Woodrow, who faces competition for a spot in the lineup following new signings. Woodrow's experience is appealing, but Luton's manager sees him as a valuable player. Despite interest from other clubs, Woodrow's future at Luton remains uncertain.
Blackburn Rovers FC v Cardiff City FC - Sky Bet Championship by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport | Getty Images
Luton Town striker Cauley Woodrow is wanted by Middlesbrough and Oxford United, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
The experienced 30-year-old striker was loaned to Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers last season.
But Woodrow failed to score in nine league games for the Lancashire outfit and returned to Kenilworth Road for pre-season.
Hatters’ boss Matt Bloomfield has gone on record as saying he sees Woodrow as a player he could use this season, but the London side have already strengthened with a string of attacking options this summer.
Proven hitman Nahki Wells has joined from Bristol City, while Jerry Yates has signed from Swansea City and Norwegian striker Lasse Nordas is tipped to feature this term as the club beginning life back in League One.
West Ham’s highly-rated young striker Gideon Kodua has also joined the Hatters’ ranks, meaning Woodrow faces plenty of competition if he is going to cement a regular place in Bloomfield’s team.
Luton have sold Carlton Morris, their leading scorer for the past three seasons, to Derby County in the summer window.
And that means Woodrow’s chances of playing have improved, but it remains to be seen whether Bloomfield will give him the chance to help as looks to orchestrate an immediate return to the second tier this season.
Woodrow has previously been linked with a move to Wrexham, but the Welsh side have bolstered their firepower with a number of summer signings.
TEMPTATION
And now Boro and Oxford are looking to see if they can tempt Woodrow away from Kenilworth Road, with his vast Championship experience a big draw.
However, Bloomfield stressed in a recent interview: “Cauley’s situation is that he’s a very, very good footballer. He’s a really intelligent player."
“He’s training very well at the moment and he’s someone who’s firmly in our thoughts."
“At the moment we’ve got Cauley and Lasse at the top of the pitch, so at the moment those two are our options and Cauley is a very good footballer, an incredible person as well, so he certainly adds to our group right now.”
Woodrow started his career with Luton before being snapped up by Fulham, for whom he played six games in the Premier League and a 49 in the Championship.
Loan spells with Southend United, Burton Albion, Bristol City and Barnsley followed before the former England Under-21 international joined the Tykes on permanent deal.
He helped the South Yorkshire club win promotion to the Championship during a memorable 2018-19 campaign in which he scored 12 goals in 21 league matches.
A high-profile move to the Hatters followed but the striker struggled for goals and has scored just six times in 77 appearances for the club.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.