Whitehead played 146 times for his hometown club Oxford

Oxford chairman Kelvin Thomas has said he is delighted after United landed at least £668,750 from Dean Whitehead's move from Sunderland to Stoke.

United should land 25% of the £3m fee, which could rise to £5m, minus the £325,000 fee which Sunderland paid the U's for the midfielder in 2004.

Thomas said: "No two ways about it, it will definitely be a windfall.

"It will help offset some of the losses we have planned on for this year and pay down some debt."

He added: "We have made a big commitment to Chris [Wilder, manager] in regards to the players.

"I think it's not something we would throw into the playing budget because we think we have a big enough squad to compete for promotion."

United could be line for £1.18m if Whitehead plays a sufficient amount of games and if Stoke achieve success in his spell there.

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