Joel Cooper: Northern Irish winger leaves Oxford United
- Published
Cooper joined League Two side Port Vale on loan in January
Winger Joel Cooper is to return to Northern Ireland having agreed to leave Oxford United by mutual consent.
The 26-year-old struggled to settle at the League One club since joining from Linfield in 2020.
He returned to the Blues on a short-term loan in January 2021 and has spent the second half of the current campaign at Port Vale.
Cooper is now a free agent having left Oxford a year before his contract was set to expire.
Having won back-to-back league titles with Linfield, the former Glenavon man made the move across the water hoping to make an impact in full-time football.
He was included in Ian Baraclough's Northern Ireland squad in August 2020 before returning to Belfast the following January on a short-term loan.
"Joel has great ability but hasn't been able to settle here," said Oxford manager Karl Robinson.
"We talked it through and there are things back home he needs to deal with so we agreed he can leave and he does so with our thanks and very best wishes for the future."