West Ham's forgotten boy was as talented as Declan Rice, but there was one key difference to the Arsenal star
Slaven Bilic has revealed a West Ham star could have had the same career as Declan Rice if he had the support of those around him.
Bilic took charge of the Hammers in the summer of 2015 and made a perfect start to his time at the club with a 2-0 win over Arsenal in his first game in charge.
His most important decision that day was to give a senior debut to Reece Oxford – a 16-year-old talent who had come through the academy in east London.
Oxford not only started the game and won the player of the match award, but had a 95 per cent pass completion rate, having given the ball away only once.
Speaking after the match, Bilic said of Oxford: “People were asking, 'Are you sure he's 16?'
“It was going to be a risk, but he has something. I thought we needed someone to sit in front of the defense who is great and can be a third defender, but who can also play with the ball. I'm very proud of him.
“On paper he is 16 years old. He is part of this new generation. Let's put it this way, yes Lionel Messi If he were in front of me, I'd be more bewildered than Reece.
“I know we have a good team and I know we have it in ourselves, but I wasn't sure how we were going to show it.”
Oxford would make 12 senior appearances for West Ham that season and 17 in total between loans with Reading, Borussia Monchengladbach and Augsburg, which he joined in the summer of 2019.
Since then, the 25-year-old has made 80 appearances for the German team.
Reflecting on Oxford's breakthrough at West Ham, Bilic told White and Jordan on talkSPORT, Bilic said: “It was a great game and a great start for me as a manager to beat Arsenal 2-0.
“Someone got injured and we put Reece Oxford, who I think was 16, as a holding midfielder to score. Mesut Ozil above all and he did a great job because we won the game.
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“He had great potential and was very similar to Declan Rice which arrived a year later.
“Declan and the people around Declan were more focused and focused just on football and you can see how that developed his career.”
Explaining why he left West Ham, Oxford later said: “Everyone thought I was Superman and no one really knew what went on behind closed doors.
“I was 16 years old and everyone thought I could play every week without knowing that I had injuries after a certain number of games.
“I've been with the first team since I was 14. I was never on the schedule for my age group, with gym work and all that. Everything you need to make sure your muscles are ready for the professional game .
“(Instead) I went straight into the professional game. Injuries: back pain, hamstring problems, everything.
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“Maybe I got a little lost in the bubble too because you would do it when you were 16 and out of school. “I never had the attitude they told me.
“You can ask everyone at West Ham. That was the picture they painted and it wasn't good.”
While Oxford have struggled to fulfill their potential in the years since, Rice has become one of the Premier League's leading midfield stars.
After making 245 appearances for West Ham, Rice joined Arsenal in 2023 and has so far racked up eight goals and 14 assists in 69 appearances.
He also earned 62 caps for England and scored five goals.
