He became a household name when he played well for West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium just a couple of weeks ago, but Reece Oxford was already known by the big club before then.
The 16-year-old who can play in defence and midfield was hailed, as all young English players are, as something of a messiah after the Hammers beat Arsenal 2-0 on the opening day of the season.
Now, weeks later, West Ham co-chairman David Gold has confirmed that Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City were all interested in signing the midfielder from the Hammers.
“As a club we already had the player,” West Ham United coach Terry Westley has said. “Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal wanted him and the value was ridiculous. We have to give them so much so young just to keep them. You haven’t got a choice.”
Arsenal signed plenty of promising youth players this summer and, as a homegrown player, Oxford would be an incredibly tempting proposition for any of the top clubs. He’s tipped to go onto big things and, considering his age, his performances this season have been superb.
On Twitter, Gold confirmed the bid.
We had to beat off Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal to keep Reece Oxford on a long term deal. dg pic.twitter.com/ML9XSNeKoh
— David Gold (@davidgold) September 13, 2015
Arsenal obviously didn’t get the player, so people will probably moan. Never mind! We have plenty of huge talents and Oxford wouldn’t improve on our squad just yet, well done to West Ham to warding off interest from clubs with such huge amounts of money.