Slaven Bilic risks backlash from West Ham United fans if he sells Reece Oxford

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West Ham United are said to be considering offloading Reece Oxford in the January transfer window.

Slaven Bilic would risk a backlash from West Ham United supporters, if he went through with selling Reece Oxford, as the Daily Mirror have suggested is his plan.

Oxford has been sent out on loan spells to both Reading and Borussia Monchengladbach in recent times, but he has failed to impress.

The 18-year-old has been a reserve option for both clubs, and has suffered from a lack of first-team football.

West Ham are now said to be considering offloading Oxford, despite the youngster showing a great deal of early promise.

But Bilic surely cannot afford to sell Oxford, if he wants to keep supporters on side.

Bilic said to Football.London earlier this week that Oxford would become part of his first-team next season, and that the England youth international had the potential to captain the club in the near future.

If West Ham were to sell Oxford now, those statements would look very misleading and the trust between the fans and Bilic would be broken.

West Ham, therefore, simply cannot afford to offload Oxford any time soon – otherwise the reaction from the bulk of the supporters at the London Stadium is sure to be one of anger and frustration.