Reece Oxford refuses to talk up potential but wants to be worshipped like Payet

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The teenage star has designs on becoming West Ham’s next hero.

West Ham United teenager Reece Oxford has told the Independent that he cannot speculate on what his future career will hold for him, but admitted that he wants to be revered by his club’s supporters in the way that first-team star Dimitri Payet is.

Oxford burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old last season under Slaven Bilic, making 12 appearances in all competitions including three starts in the Premier League.

This season his involvement has been limited to two starts in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, but there are widespread hopes that he will become a regular first-team star in the not-too-distant future.

Such is the talent of the teenager, he has even been billed by some as a potential future captain for both club and country.

However, Oxford himself is staying grounded, although he did admit to the Independent that he hopes to one day become as idolised by the West Ham support as current star man Dimitri Payet.

Oxford said: “If someone says to me ‘you’re going to be this, you’re going to be that’, I will say I haven’t really done anything. I don’t know about what I’m going to be. I hope I’m going to be a good player, but you never know, hopefully I can just get game time and play, and prove to everyone. I won’t say this or that, I don’t know yet how good I am.

“I was just happy to be in and around the team, being in the 16, being in and around a Premier League team. I got nine games, I came on a couple of times in the Prem, a couple of times in the cup games. What else can you wish for? Hopefully in five years’ time I’ll just be playing football, and captaining my club and my country. Or being in and around my country.

“Just watching him [Payet] and seeing how people are, how all the fans love him, I aspire to be that, [where] the fans love me and be like a hero to them.”

Oxford will be hoping to gain more senior action this term, but that looks to be difficult at this moment in time with the Hammers out of Europe and the EFL Cup and struggling in the Premier League.