Hackett attracts Marseille

Oxford winger Chris Hackett has attracted the interest of French giants Marseille.

The 22-year-old, who has a year left on his contract at The Kassam Stadium, performed well in Wednesday's 4-1 pre-season friendly win over Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion.

Hackett and The U's were watched on Wednesday by former Oxford coach Jean-Marc Goiran and a representative from the Stade Velodrome club - thought to be Marseille sport director and former manager Jose Anigo.

Frenchman Goiran is a familiar face to the League Two club, having been responsible for bringing the Argentine duo of Ramon Diaz and Horacio Rodriguez to manage The U's last season.

He eventually moved before the end of last season when Brian Talbot succeeded Diaz as Oxford boss, but Goiran has seemingly used his connections with Marseille to have a closer look at Hackett.

It remains to be seen if the Ligue 1 club will make a serious move for the former Oxford trainee, with the French League returning to action this weekend.

Talbot, meanwhile, will continue to look at trialists in former Farnborough midfielder Robert Hughes and former Tamworth defender Jude Stirling.

Another trialist - striker Stuart Beavon - has returned to non-league side Didcot Town after suffering a hamstring injury which will rule him out for up to three weeks.

Meanwhile, Oxford have released young midfielder Paul Burton - who has failed to impress in the club's pre-season.