Is Arsenal target Declan Rice now a more exciting academy prospect for West Ham than Reece Oxford?
Cheikhou Kouyate looks dejected while Joe Hart reacts during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool.
It is fair to say West Ham United have not had the best of seasons, with a 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool in their last Premier League outing seeing them drop into the relegation zone and costing Slaven Bilic his job as manager.
Bilic received plenty of criticism for his tactical decisions in 2017/18 before finally getting the boot, but something he perhaps does deserve credit for is his promotion of academy prospect Declan Rice into the first team.
West Ham defender Declan Rice reacts during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Rice made his debut for the club on the final day of last season – a 2-1 victory at Burnley – and partly due to injury problems, began this term in the starting XI.
The 18 year old has since made eight appearances in all competitions since the start of the campaign, operating as either a centre-back or defensive midfielder and looking like he could be a genuine Hammers star of the future.
In fact, such is Rice’s progress that he is arguably now ahead of fellow youngster Reece Oxford in terms of his development, with the defender heralded as one of the brightest prospects not only at the London Stadium, but in English football, upon making his professional debut for the East London club aged 16.
Reece Oxford of West Ham United arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match against Middlesbrough.
Since that breakthrough in 2015, however, Oxford has managed just 15 more matches for West Ham and has endured unsuccessful loans at Reading and now at Borussia Monchengladbach – having played one minute of first team action since his switch to Germany.
The teenager is still only 18 himself and still has plenty of time to develop, but has perhaps been overtaken by Rice who at the time of the former’s debut was nowhere near the senior squad.
Either way, though, a report from the Mirror claiming new boss David Moyes is prepared to sell the duo and three other academy starlets to free up January funds should be troubling for a club proud of its history of promoting youngsters. Especially with Arsenal thought to be sniffing around Rice.
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