West Ham had a bigger academy star than Rice, now he’s a forgotten £1m flop. Declan Rice with the Europa Conference League trophy for West Ham. West Ham are currently undergoing a huge shift in style. New manager Julen Lopetegui has taken the reins, there have been plenty of incomings and outgoings during the transfer window, and the new manager is trying to guide the group into a more ball-dominant era.
This is a big change from David Moyes last season, who is known as a more pragmatic coach, looking to defend first, and hit teams on the break in transition. The Hammers averaged 40.5% possession last season, the fourth lowest in the division. Another big change the Hammers are still trying to recover from, is the loss of Declan Rice, who left to join Arsenal in 2023 for a fee of around £105m, signing a five-year deal with the Gunners.
Declan Rice’s career at West Ham
Having started off at Chelsea’s academy, Rice eventually moved to West Ham aged 14, having been released by the Blues. The midfielder then emerged through West Ham’s academy, making 32 appearances for the U21 side, before earning his senior debut against Burnley in 2017.
Rice went on to make 245 appearances for West Ham, scoring 15 times, providing 13 assists, and totaling 20,580 minutes, captaining the Hammers and leading them to a UEFA Conference League triumph.
The England international’s meteoric rise saw him become the ninth-youngest player to reach 200 Premier League appearances at 24 years and 105 days. With his prime years still ahead of him, many believe he will go on to achieve even bigger things with Arsenal and even the national team.
That said, once upon a time, they had a player who possessed just as much potential.
Reece Oxford the forgotten man
Another 25-year-old that came through the West Ham academy ranks is Reece Oxford, now described as the “forgotten talent” of English football by scout Jacek Kulig. The 6 foot 4 central defender showed promise at a young age, making the senior team bench at just 15-years-old.
Oxford made 43 appearances for the West Ham U21 side, scoring five goals and providing two assists in 3,676 games, but only managed 17 appearances for the senior side, totaling 802 minutes played.
Ex-West Ham manager, Slavan Bilic, was a massive fan of the player and spoke about Oxford’s hype around the club, and how it actually overshadowed Rice, stating “I couldn’t move around the place without hearing that Reece Oxford was going to be the next big thing. Dec’s was a different story. He was able to come in without the same expectations.”
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Bilic spoke on that infamous Oxford debut, where the Hammers beat Arsenal 2-0, with the 16-year-old at the time “pocketing” the brilliant Mesut Ozil. That said, Bilic believes from this moment, Oxford had issues such as injuries, causing him to lose some confidence and focus, thus hindering his development.
Oxford is now playing for FC Augsburg, having left West Ham in 2019 for just £3m. The Englishman has made 80 appearances for the German outfit, scoring three goals, providing two assists, and totaling 5,300 minutes played.
The 25-year-old is now valued at just £1.2m by Transfermarkt, a lower value than he had even back in 2016, aged 17, when the defender was valued at £3m. This alone shows the fall off of one of England’s highly regarded talents, one that may actually have allowed Rice to emerge out of the spotlight.
