Should we send Reece Oxford out on loan?

Regardless of who you support you most certainly know his name by now. We are only ten days away from it being a year where Slaven Bilic shocked us all by starting 16 year old Reece Oxford in our Premier League opener against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Oxford started his career at Tottenham Hotspur, our London rivals, though he was released in 2011 and joined West Ham United. It’s fair to say that they’re regretting that now! He became known to us all when he was on the bench against Sheffield United (League Cup second round) when he was only 15 years old. This was then followed by Oxford winning the Academy Player of the Year award whilst making the squad for several Premier League games and finally making his debut against FC Lusitanos in the Europa League.

It was obvious that he was something special. I mean, what other player has the ability to not only play in their team’s U21 side at his age, but also captain them?!

Naturally, we were nervous when we saw his name on the team sheet against Arsenal but he had us all in awe throughout the game. Oxford was up against, in my opinion, the best #10 in the world in Mesut Ozil and managed to keep him quiet. Whenever he received the ball he looked like he’d been playing at this level for years, only losing possession once in the game.

Oxford ended the 15/16 season with three starts in the Premier League (four appearances from the bench) and it has been reported that he is ‘looking for assurances on greater first-team involvement’ by the Evening Standard.

Why should Oxford stay with us this season?

The departure of James Tomkins to Crystal Palace certainly means that there will be an increase in opportunities for Oxford. As it stands there are only three defenders ahead of him in the pecking order, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins. Understandably, he will not be getting many games in the Premier League but he does have a real chance of appearing more in the FA Cup and League Cup. I would mention the Europa League however Bilic did field a very strong XI last Thursday with Oxford playing zero minutes. It’s clear that we are taking the competition seriously this year.

Why should Oxford go out on loan?

In recent weeks we have read of interest from both the Manchester clubs and Arsenal though West Ham have slapped an £18m price tag in an attempt to keep Oxford. We can’t ignore that all three clubs have shown in the past that they are not afraid to spend big on youngsters.

With the top clubs being interested we may have no choice but to send him out on loan. Oxford is simply too good to be playing for the U21 team for the next year or so and if we keep restricting his game time then he may leave in search of it. Who wants a Paul Pogba situation? Nobody.

Let’s not forget that there are other positives to him going out on loan. He’ll be getting more game time than he would at West Ham (if he goes to the right club) and we will be receiving a better player on his return. We’ve seen it happen with multiple players, they go out to different clubs and become superstars. Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Kevin De Bruyne to name a few.

What is the best long-term option for both Reece Oxford and West Ham? I believe it is loaning him out.