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Why Reece Oxford shouldn’t leave West Ham

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: Reece Oxford of West Ham in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on August 9, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: Reece Oxford of West Ham in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on August 9, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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News came in today that Manchester City have made a formal approach to West Ham for young England defender Reece Oxford in a deal that is thought to be between £10-15m.

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Now obviously this deal is nowhere neat being done and it remains to be seen if the Davids will even go to the negotiation table over Reece Oxford as it was this season that they made a big deal out of him signing a new contract with us, signing his first professional contract in December.

If they weren’t going to budge on the sale of Payet maybe they’ll take a similar approach to Oxford, that to sell him would be too big a statement that we hadn’t changed as a club and we’d remain a stopover for big players on their way to fame and glory.

And when looking at City developing English players I think my tweet on the subject highlights why Reece Oxford should not be considering a move in the first place:

The reply to my tweet? Apparently City helped Hart and Micah Richards achieve greatness.

Hart I can kind of see. However it wasn’t at City that he made his name, it was out on loan where he first made the England squad and built his confidence. I still don’t believe that sucessions of loans work for too many players because of the disruption and changes in passing styles they have to go through.

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However Richards? Richards joined City before the oil money arrived and still never achieved the potential people thought he had. He sat on the bench for years as players were bought in above him on the ladder, and as such England’s future captain only made 13 appearances for his nation and now finds himself with Villa in the championship at the age of 28. Not really nurturing is it.

However, the world doesn’t work perfectly and he may well have his head turned by the money and the prospect of working under Guardiola. And if that is the case it’s hard to make him stay, an unhappy young player will never reach his potential, wherever he is.

If I was the Davids I would make sure that Reece Oxford wanted to stay and then get him on a new contract that means money won’t be a decisive factor in the coming years. But if he ends up leaving, we’d better make sure Man City are paying well above cost price for the young starlet.

He’s a great talent and I’d hate to see him bored on the bench at City our farmed out on loan all over the place for the next 4 years.

Next: 5 Reasons West Ham don't need a new Centre back

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