LIAM Sercombe cannot wait to get stuck into a new challenge after becoming Oxford United’s second signing in as many days.

The 25-year-old follows Kemar Roofe into the squad after agreeing a two-year contract, with the club holding an option to extend it for the 2017-18 campaign.

It marks a big change for Sercombe, who has been at Exeter City for more than half his life and allowed his contract to expire in Devon so he could make a move.

The midfielder said: “I’ve only lived in Exeter, so everything will be a massive change for me, but I’m really excited for it.

“I needed to get out of Exeter City. I had been there since I was 12.

“From even before the season starting I had in my head this was going to be my last year.

“I needed to get out and test myself somewhere else, it was pretty comfortable at Exeter and I didn’t want to feel like that.

“There was interest from other clubs, but when I went and met Oxford they were good to me.

“I needed to set myself a new challenge and it looks like the right place to go with what they have got plan-ned.

“I want to be a big part of that.”

The deal marks the end of a long pursuit by United, who had a bid turned down by the Grecians in January.

As he was over 24 and in the closing months of a contract, Sercombe was able to meet with head coach Michael Appleton and chief executive Mark Ashton to begin discussions two months ago.

While the move was only concluded this month, it meant he paid close attention to United’s strong form during the run-in.

He said: “I was keeping an eye on the results because it was looking like I was going there and I wanted to see how they ended the season.

“It was good to see they finished strongly.”

It means he was well aware of Roofe’s impact on loan during an eight-game unbeaten run.

And the forward’s signing yesterday left Sercombe in no doubt he had made the best move.

He said: “With where Roofe’s coming from at West Brom and the way he was playing at Oxford there was 100 per cent going to be interest from other clubs in League One.

“That does make it a lot more certain that I have made the right cho-ice.

“It will be interesting to see what happens, but it’s exciting times – for me and Oxford.”