West Ham had a bigger talent than Rice but now he’s worth less than Johnson. It once looked so promising for this former prodigy.
Would it be fair to claim that West Ham United would not have enjoyed the riches of the past few years under David Moyes’ tutelage had Declan Rice not emerged from the academy?
Sure, Moyes would have been re-appointed back in December 2019. And yes, progress would have been made transfer-wise, stabilising an outfit equipped for success but failing to make it all work, like trying to place various puzzle pieces into the right positions to form a completed picture.
West Ham manager David Moyes
But Rice closed the door on his Irons journey with successive Player of the Season awards in his locker. Oh yes, and the Player of the Season award in the Europa Conference League, having played a talismanic part in securing silverware for his London outfit.
His departure stung, not least because he decided to join cross-city rivals in Arsenal, but it’s hard to bewail too loudly, Rice catalysed a midfield and lifted it to glory.
Even the most sanguine West Ham supporters would have resigned themselves to Rice’s sale following the completion of the 2022/23 campaign.
Declan Rice for Arsenal.
No doubt the Hammers bosses canvassed offers of extension at the London Stadium but Rice felt his skill set worthy of a place at the forefront of the European game and thus Arsenal succeeded with a £105m move, making him (briefly) the most expensive footballer in British history.
Such an astronomical recoup makes it hard to argue West Ham didn’t succeed with Rice, but his exploits as a United player would have cemented him in the club’s hall of modern greats had he left for a pittance, with Jack Wilshere gushing back in 2021 that “physically he’s a freak, and technically he can do anything that he wants.”
He amassed 245 appearances for West Ham after graduating from the academy and became synonymous with the side’s resurgence under Moyes, fuelling the team from the nucleus of the pitch and dazzling with his high-energy, all-embracing midfield approach.
He’s the creme-de-la-creme, but West Ham thought they had an even bigger talent on their hands in the early days of Rice’s career.
They thought so, but Reece Oxford proved to fall by the wayside on English shores.
Why Reece Oxford failed at West Ham
Oxford was one of the hottest prospects around after making his Premier League debut as a 16-year-old in the 2015/16 Premier League opener against Arsenal, with West Ham securing a stunning victory at the Emirates Stadium.
Speaking of his performance after the match, Irons gaffer Slaven Bilic was bewildered by his young talent, remarking: “The boy has got everything. Everything. Let’s be fair. Ozil, Cazorla, and Ramsey are world-class players. It’s not easy to minimize their game. He’s definitely going to make it if he progresses and keeps his feet on the ground.”
Oxford made six further Premier League appearances that year but has featured only once in the English top-flight since, completing a series of indifferent loan spells with Reading and Borussia Monchengladbach before attracting Augsburg’s attention, embarking on a temporary move in 2018/19 before completing a permanent transfer with the German Bundesliga side for around £3m.
The former England U20 international has now amassed 80 appearances for the Fuggerstädter, which evens out at 13.3 features per campaign.
Reece Oxford’s market value in 2024
Sadly, injuries and setbacks relating to long Covid have hindered a once-promising career, and while Oxford has enjoyed comparative success in Germany, notably starting 30 Bundesliga matches in 2021/22 as his outfit swerved the clamp of the drop zone, he’s played just three times since the start of last season.
As such, the 25-year-old is currently valued at just £2m – according to Football Transfers’ player valuation model, actually marking him with a price tag below Ben Johnson, who is valued at £4m.
Johnson plays his part in West Ham’s system but he’s probably one of Moyes’ more expendable cogs, with the 24-year-old full-back starting just four Premier League games all season.
