Reece Oxford kicked off his pre-season preparations on Monday.
West Ham United kicked off their pre-season preparations on Monday, as players returned for training ahead of the new season.
Big-money signing Pablo Fornals wasn’t in attendance having featured for Spain in the Under-21 European Championships final on Sunday, but many other West Ham stars were in action.
Fans will have been keeping an eye on who was part of the pre-season plans, and some may have spotted Reece Oxford in the mix.
The first photo shows him arriving at training, greeting Mark Noble, before he was then seeing working on an exercise bike as pre-season began in earnest.
Oxford appears to have been training with the West Ham first team rather than being shunned to one side by Manuel Pellegrini, giving him a real shot at a full pre-season.
The 20-year-old still appears to have no future at the London Stadium, just four years on from his sensational Premier League debut against Arsenal.
The man who gave him that debut, Slaven Bilic, is now in charge of West Bromwich Albion, and the Daily Star reported last month that Oxford was ‘poised’ to make a £4million move to the Hawthorns to reunite with Bilic.
No move has materialised so far, with West Brom maybe waiting for some sales in order to reinvest cash in holding midfielder Oxford.
Oxford has really fallen down the West Ham pecking order, but after the collapse of a permanent move to Augsburg in January, he’s being given a chance to at least work out with the West Ham first team.
That’s great for potential suitors, who will at least know that Oxford will have decent fitness levels for the new season, unless Pellegrini springs a shock and hands the youngster another chance with the Hammers.
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