SUMMER signing Marselino Ferdinan is unafraid of making the step up to Sky Bet Championship football after joining Oxford United last month.

The winger, who turned 20 yesterday, is currently away on international duty with Indonesia, who welcome Australia in a 2026 World Cup qualifier this afternoon.

Ferdinan signed for the U’s on August 19, arriving on a free transfer after leaving Belgian second tier side KMSK Deinze.

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United have been owned by Indonesian investors Anindya Bakrie and Erick Thohir since September 2022, when a deal was finalised that saw the duo take a controlling 51 per cent stake in the club.

Bakrie and Thohir played an important role in enabling the U’s to bring in Ferdinan, who is well-regarded as one of the most promising young Asian talents in the game.

He said: “I watched a couple of games, and then the owners said to me ‘you can go to Oxford and negotiate with the team’.

“My agent told me this is a good step for me because they had a really good season last year, getting promoted to the Championship.

“They’re a really good team here, with really good supporters.

“I’m not scared about anything. I’ll just work hard here and give everything to the team, and I hope I can help the team this season.”

Ferdinan has won 27 caps for his country, netting three times, and played the final half an hour as Indonesia drew 1-1 against Saudi Arabia in a World Cup third round qualifying clash last week.

Among his international appearances is a 2-0 friendly defeat for Indonesia against Argentina last summer.

Leandro Paredes, who was with PSG at the time, and Tottenham Hotspur centre back Cristian Romero scored Argentina’s goals, while the likes of former Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso and ex-Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez were in the starting XI, while Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench.

Asked about the merits of his international experience, Ferdinan responded: “It’s really helped me, and it’s been really good. I’ve played against some really good national teams.

“I’ve played against Argentina before, and that was a really good experience.

“They had Paredes, Lo Celso and Julian Alvarez, and it was quite the challenge. We lost 2-0, but it wasn’t too bad.”

On his playing style, Ferdinan said: “I can play cutting inside and scoring. I’m a left winger, and right-footed, but mostly I’ve played as a No 10. It doesn’t matter where I play, I can play everywhere.

“When I was a child, I played as a No 10, until I played in the national team, and then the head coach changed my position in the national team to the left wing, and that’s fine. I can play there.”