West Ham United defender Reece Oxford is gathering the interest of Atletico Madrid. According to recent reports, the La Liga giants are looking to secure the services of the England Under-20 international next summer if he can continue with his development in the Bundesliga. The youngster is currently out on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach but has struggled to regularly feature for the club so far.
However, he started as a right-back last Sunday against Borussia Dortmund. It is being reported that the Madrid outfit has monitored Oxford’s progress over the last few years and believe that he has a bright future but for now, his immediate development path could turn out to be further loan spells in the coming years.
Monchengladbach launched a £8m offer for Oxford in January but the Hammers were reluctant to do business and declined their bid. It is believed that the East London club is asking for a fee in the region of £12m for the promising centre-back. The 18-year-old still has an opportunity to be moved up into the England Under-21s squad going into the near future and is eager to play regular football even if he has to make a switch out of East London.
Oxford has featured in 8 matches for the Bundesliga club this term across all competitions but is yet to find the back of the net so far.
David Moyes brought him back to the club in January with the intention of incorporating him in his starting eleven but decided to go with more experience in their quest to save themselves from relegation this season. The teenager’s desire to move abroad in search of more first-team opportunities has alerted clubs who find it hard to sign potentially top-class centre-halves with prices rapidly rising in the current market.
The £75m deal of Virgil Van Dijk to Liverpool last month demonstrated the value of a top quality defender in today’s market. There has been recent speculation linking Oxford with a move to RB Leipzig but he prefers a move to Spain if he ends up parting ways with West Ham. The English starlet will have three years left to run in his current contract with the Hammers next summer and it is expected that his market price is likely to rise if he can feature regularly in the top tier of German football.
Hence, it makes sense for the East London outfit to retain his services for now and either use his talents when he is ready in a few years time or sell him for a high price. It remains to be seen what lies ahead in the future of the 18-year-old and whether he ends up making a move to Spain.
