LIAM Sercombe has left Oxford United for fellow Sky Bet League One side Bristol Rovers in a six-figure transfer.

The midfielder has signed a contract with the Pirates after the clubs agreed a figure believed to be in excess of £150,000.

It does not come as a surprise, after the 27-year-old was left out of the run-in last month following unspecified ‘disciplinary issues’.

And head coach Michael Appleton revealed before the end of the season United would be triggering an extra year in Sercombe’s contract purely so he could not leave for free this summer.

The U's boss said: "With John Lundstram, Joe Rothwell, Ryan Ledson and Josh Ruffels all fighting for a central midfield place we have plenty of competition in that area of the field but we thank Liam for his hard work over the last couple of years and wish him well for the future.”

While there were links with a move to Hibernian in Scotland, the switch to Rovers makes sense geographically for Sercombe, whose family lives in Devon.

It ends a two-year spell which featured 22 goals in 101 appearances since moving from hometown club Exeter City in 2015.

Sercombe told Rovers' official website: "I wanted the transfer to take place before I took my holiday so that I can relax before coming back to a lot of hard work in pre-season.

“As soon as I knew of Rovers’ interest, there was only one place I wanted to go.

"People who know me will also know how much I wanted to come here. I’m very happy and can’t wait to get started.

“I want to help this club go forward because in my eyes it’s a big club and one that can definitely go places and I want to be part of it.”

He is the second key player from the 2015/16 promotion-winning squad to depart today, following the news Joe Skarz had agreed to terminate his contract a year early.