KEMAR Roofe has left Oxford United to join Leeds United for a club record fee believed to be in the region of £3m.

The 23-year-old signed a four-year deal with the Championship club today. 

Roofe was hot property after a spectacular first season of regular football, hitting 26 goals to help the U’s win automatic promotion from Sky Bet League Two.

He also starred in the side’s eye-catching runs in the FA Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, scoring seven goals in six games against higher-league opposition.

It took Roofe's tally for the club to an impressive 32 goals from 60 starts.

United were determined to hang on to the forward during the January transfer window, but a summer departure always looked likely, despite two years still remaining on his contract.

Last month chairman Darryl Eales revealed to the Oxford Mail “four or five” Championship clubs had serious interest in making a formal approach for Roofe, later saying his valuation was £3m.

While the fee is undisclosed, it is understood Leeds’s successful bid was close to the mark.

It is comfortably higher than the £1.6m United received from Leicester City for Matt Elliott in 1997, which was their previous record fee.

While it is a windfall, the amount the U’s will keep is significantly lower due to former club West Bromwich Albion having a sell-on clause of about 40 per cent.