MARCUS McGuane is fired up to show what he can do after joining Oxford United on a season-long loan.

The 21-year-old joins from Championship side Nottingham Forest, following stints at Barcelona B and Arsenal – and having been born in February 1999, he will not count towards the salary cap.

McGuane has found first-team football hard to come by so far in his career, but is raring to show his worth at United.

He said: “Obviously there’s been some ups and downs for a lot of reasons, but I’m just happy to be here.

“I’m happy to get my head down and knuckle down and fight for my place, fight for the team and fight for the club.

“I feel fit and ready to go.”

The coronavirus pandemic forced the suspension of the EFL season just a fortnight after McGuane joined Forest on a two-and-a-half-year deal at the end of February.

It was the latest twist in a storied few years for the ex-England Under 19 international, who joined Arsenal at Under 6 level and made two first-team appearances in the Europa League in 2017.

He caught the attention of Barcelona and moved to the Spanish giants’ second side in January 2018, playing 24 games team in a season and a half.

There was also one appearance for the senior team, in the 2018 Catalan Super Cup final.

McGuane then joined Dutch second tier outfit Telstar on a season-long loan last September, his most recent appearance against Ajax in December.

The youngster believes his experiences on the continent have helped his development.

He said: “Over the years I’ve grown different parts of my game and I think I’m going towards more of a complete midfielder.

"Hopefully we’re going to see more this season.”

McGuane has been training with United for more than two weeks as they prepare for the start of the Sky Bet League One campaign on September 12.

It included their training camp in Wales, which ended yesterday.

The midfielder has seen first-hand how determined the U’s are to better last season’s play-off final defeat to Wycombe Wanderers and is desperate to play his part.

He said: “Sometimes when something bad happens it reignites that fire in your belly.

“We know what the goal is for this season and I’m sure with all the talent we have I’m sure we can get the positive outcome we want.”