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West Ham's Reece Oxford courts attention from Atletico Madrid

West Ham's Reece Oxford courts attention from Atletico Madrid

The West Ham prospect Reece Oxford is the subject of interest from Atletico Madrid who are looking at the England Under-20 international as a potential signing for this summer, should his development in the Bundesliga continue.

The 19-year-old is back on his second spell on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach after a brief return to the West Ham first team over January. He struggled to get in the side at the Bundesliga club in the early part of the season but won a place just before his return, and last Sunday started at right-back against Borussia Dortmund.

Atletico have looked at Oxford, whose best position is a centre-back, over a long period and feel that he could be a good long-term prospect with his immediate development path likely to be further loan spells. Oxford was the subject of a £8 million bid from Monchengladbach in January which was rejected by West Ham with the club valuing the player at around £12 million.

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The teenager may yet be moved up into the England Under-21s squad come next month, and is keen to play regular football even if that means leaving West Ham. David Moyes did originally bring him back in January with the intention of looking at the teenager as a potential first team player but decided to opt for more experience in the club’s relegation battle.

Oxford’s willingness to move abroad to seek games has attracted the interest of clubs who see a shortage of potentially top-level centre-backs across Europe and prices rising accordingly. The £75 million fee Liverpool paid for Virgil Van Dijk demonstrated the value of a leading centre-back. There has also been interest from RB Leipzig in Oxford but he favours a move to Spain if he leaves West Ham.

He will have three years left on his contract come the summer and his value is likely to rise if he plays regularly in the Bundesliga. Thus far West Ham’s valuation of the player has tended to rise each time there has been an enquiry.