Scottish Premiership giants Rangers nearly lured West Ham United starlet Reece Oxford to Ibrox in January – but a Bundesliga move beckons.
For the second January transfer window in a row, Reece Oxford looks set to leave West Ham – though this time on a permanent basis rather than a short-term loan.
As reported by Sky Sports, Scottish Premiership giants Rangers had entered advanced talks about signing the highly-rated centre-back on a temporary deal midway through last season.
Then-Rangers manager Mark Warburton was understood to be a big fan of the teenager, who famously made his Premier League debut as a 16-year-old in a 2-0 away win at Arsenal back in August 2015.
Rangers were left disappointed, however, when Oxford instead joined Reading – only to play a minimal role as The Royals missed out on promotion to the Premier League via a play-off final defeat to Huddersfield Town.
One year after Rangers made their move, however, Oxford looks set to be on the move again. Though this time he could cost up to £17 million.
The BBC reports that West Ham are planning to re-call the 19-year-old from his loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach, where he has played just three times, and sell him immediately to Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig.
Leipzig, controversially bankrolled by energy drink giants Red Bull, have made it their mission to put together a squad consisting of some of Europe’s most exciting young talent a la Timo Werner, Bruma and Jean-Kevin Augustin.
And it is understood that Leipzig will come close to equalling their transfer record to sign Oxford in a fee that could rise to around £17 million.
It’s fair to say a lot has happened in the teenager’s career since Rangers came close to landing him one year ago – even if he hasn’t had anywhere near as much game time as he would have liked.
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