Despite the fans at The Boleyn Ground all believing that they had a star on their books when Reece Oxford made his Premier League debut in a 2-0 win over Arsenal back on the opening day of the 2015/16 season, it really has not gone to plan for the now ex-Hammer.
Oxford was sold on Friday, leaving London and West Ham to ply his trade in the Bundesliga on a permanent basis with top-flight club Augsburg (BBC). The versatile defender has signed a four-year deal with his new club, and at the age of just 20, he still has his whole career ahead of him.
When Oxford first made a name for himself, it looked like he would be in the senior side for years to come. He was just 16-years-old when he put in a blinding performance against an Arsenal side with Mesut Ozil in the middle of the park, yet things haven’t gone as they were thought to.
Since that opening day clash with Arsenal in 2015, Oxford has gone to spend two loan spells in the Bundesliga before making this permanent move. The first one saw him spend the 2017/18 season with Borussia Monchengladbach before the second half of last season was spent at Augsburg.
West Ham fans have been vocal recently of their need for a new defensive midfielder and a new centre-back as they’ve shown signs of defensive frailties in pre-season, and with Oxford able to play both of those roles, it seems ludicrous that he’s being allowed to leave.
We’ve seen the signs previously that the versatile youngster has the ability, so there simply have to be question marks over the player’s relationship with Manuel Pellegrini. We’ve all seen what Declan Rice has become since he’s been trusted and become a regular, and there was no reason why Oxford couldn’t have done the same.
However, the Englishman ends his spell in the capital with just 17 senior games for the Irons under his belt, and it will now be up to the Augsburg midfielder to prove to his former employers that they were wrong to allow him to leave.
