The 19-year-old midfielder completed a season-long loan move from Everton to Oxford earlier this week.
He was named Everton Under-21s Player of the Year last season and has already made two senior appearances for the club.
Everton were desperate to expose him to regular senior football in the upcoming campaign and were confident of him performing at a Championship club.
But Everton and Mills eventually opted for Oxford United and that was largely down to the work carried out by Manning.
The Oxford United manager was desperate to get his hands on Mills but was aware of the interest the youngster generated from clubs in the Championship as well.
Manning met Mills and his representatives and provided a detailed presentation of how he plans to use him in his team.
The Oxford United boss made it clear that he is going to be extra careful to make sure that Mills’ next stage of development is handled well.
He also revealed that Mills will have a personalised gym program to aid his development physically as well for the rigours of senior football.
The presentation and the plans laid out by Manning made it apparent to Mills and his entourage that a move to the Kassam Stadium would be the right choice.
