Has Moyes just made a decision that will define his West Ham tenure?

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West Ham United youngster Reece Oxford will be returning to the club in January, having spent the first half of the season on loan in Germany.

David Moyes

David Moyes has recalled Reece Oxford from his loan spell in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach, and the decision he takes regarding the 19-year-old’s future could define his tenure in east London.

There were high hopes of Oxford when he made his debut away at Arsenal in the Premier League in August 2015.

The then 16-year-old dominated proceedings against West Ham’s illustrious rivals, playing in the deep-lying midfield role, and many tipped him for a bright future within the game.

Things haven’t quite gone to plan for the teenager since then, however.

He barely got a look-in following his stellar debut, a decision that Moyes’ predecessor Slaven Bilic received heavy criticism from the fans for.

Oxford has been recalled form his loan with the Bundesliga side, however, and Moyes admitted that he will be running a close eye over the 19-year-old in the coming weeks, as quoted by popular football news website Football.London:

“Yep, Reece is coming back. I don’t know Reece, I’ve never worked with Reece so I’ll take the time to have a look at him and see how he does. I know he has been talked of very highly but went out on loan so we’ll have a look at him, get him back and see how he does.”

One of the Scot’s major gripes since taking over at the London Stadium has been the imbalance of the squad at his disposal, with a lack of midfield options.

With this in mind, where Moyes chooses to deploy Oxford, if at all, will have a huge bearing on his chances of regular first-team football at West Ham this season.

If the 54-year-old utilises him in the middle of the park, the teenager might just have the answers to the Hammers’ engine room deficiency.

West Ham fans are sometimes hard to please, but there is nothing they love more than seeing a homegrown youngster being brought through the ranks, and Moyes will not go far wrong in providing the talented teenager with the chance that he so rightly deserves.