Pompey rivals Oxford United have continued their strong transfer window with an eye-catching move for Birmingham City forward Sirki Dembele.

The U’s, who followed the Blues back into the Championship at the end of last season thanks to their play-off final victory against Bolton, are reported to have broken their long-standing transfer record to seal a permanent move for the former Bournemouth and Peterborough United ace.

The Oxford Mail claim Birmingham valued the versatile attacker at between £1-1.5m. The previous highest fee the Kassam Stadium outfit had paid for a player was the £650,000 they splashed on Motherwell winger Marvin Johnson in 2016.

Just like the fee, the length of contract Dembele has signed is officially undisclosed. But what is known is the fact that the former Premier League winger is manager Des Buckingham’s 15th signing of the summer – which is one more transfer than what Pompey have completed ahead of Friday’s deadline (11pm).

Broken down, five of those signings have come in the way of permanent deals with a fee paid. Eight have arrived as free agents, while two are loan additions – including former Pompey loanee Dane Scarlett, who has joined from Ipswich. To date, Pompey’s signings include six with money exchanged, five frees and three loans.

Dembele’s Kassam Stadium arrival will help fill the void left by Josh Murphy, who moved to Fratton Park on a free transfer from the U’s following his play-off final brace against Bolton at Wembley. However, the winger is yet to feature for Pompey in a competitive game after picking up an ankle in injury pre-season. The 29-year-old is not due to return until after the international break, with the Blues’ home game against West Brom pencilled in for his comeback.

Oxford could hand their latest recruit a debut on Saturday, when Preston North End are the visitors to the Kassam. The U’s sit 12th in the Championship table – one place above Pompey on goal difference – after winning their opening fixture against Norwich. Back-to-back defeats at the hands of Coventry and Blackburn have followed since, though.

The Blues and U’s resume rivalries at Fratton Park on October 5.

Speaking about his latest addition, Buckingham said: ‘We are delighted to have landed Siriki on a permanent contract as we continue to strengthen the team.

‘He is a player with proven quality at this level and above and his football style compliments our attacking play. Siriki is exactly the type of profile that we were looking to bring in at this stage of the window. He is a player that can come straight into the group and make a difference, and we are all excited to see him in action.’

Dembele featured 33 times for Birmingham in the league last season, scoring six goals and registering one assist.

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