Oxford off to Germany?
According to reports from The Mirror, we are set to offload young defender Reece Oxford to Borussia Monchengladbach on a season long loan. The 18 year-old burst onto the scene early in Slaven Bilic’s first season as our boss, making early Europa League appearances before making his Premier League debut, starting in our 0-2 win over Arsenal in August 2015.
However, the England U20 international has been used sparingly since then, only appearing in early Europa League games last season. Oxford was granted the first loan of his career at Jaap Stam’s Reading back in January, but has also struggled for game time in The Championship, only making five appearances with the Play-Off finalists.
It remains to be seen whether this new opportunity will grant Oxford the first team Football he needs, but one thing is for sure, he surely is taking another slow step towards fulfilling his potential as future captain of West Ham United.
New signing to depart after just six months?
It has been rumoured by The Sun that January signing Robert Snodgrass is set to leave The London Stadium after a miserable first few months in Claret and Blue. The Scottish international has failed to find his feet after leaving The KCOM Stadium in January and has been ridiculed by fans and critics alike for his poor adaptation to a different style of Football under Slaven Bilic.
However, being signed as a replacement for French star Dimitri Payet was clearly never going to be easy for the 29 year-old and Slaven Bilic is reportedly willing to give the winger more time before deciding on whether to sell or keep the Scot. The mangers backing has failed to stem the tide of rumours about his future, with newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion reportedly interested in an £8 million move for the former Norwich man. So, will Snodgrass still feature in Claret and Blue next season?
Transfer gossip: Hammers eye continental duo
It has been reported this week by The Mirror that we are set to launch a £7.7 million bid for Hull Tigers winger Kamil Grosicki. The 28 year-old impressed under Marco Silva in the second half of last season, but his efforts failed to save The Tigers from relegation and the release clause in his contract is expected to be activated at some point in the coming months. However Marco Silva’s new club Watford are also reportedly interested, so will the Polish international be lighting up The London Stadium or Vicarage Road next season?
It has been rumoured by HITC that we are ready to re-ignite our interest in Inter Milan left back Davide Santon. The former Newcastle man has failed to impress in his second stint with the Italian giants, only making 14 Serie A starts last season. Santon is expected to leave The San Siro this summer for an expected fee of around £5 million, so could the 26 year-old be the latest to rival Aaron Cresswell in his left back position next season?
Bilic hints at youth inclusion
Our Croatian manager Slaven Bilic has dropped his biggest hint yet of a possible first team breakthrough for many of our young stars next season. There is no doubt that many of our youth talents have been knocking at the first team door recently, especially if you consider the poor form of our recent signings compared with the PL2 side’s recent Play-Off promotion to The PL2 division One. While players like Martin Samuelson, Reece Burke, Josh Cullen, Toni Martinez, Marcus Browne and Reece Oxford have impressed both for the U23’s and on loan in recent times, many fans are calling for a youth revolution at West Ham much like the one that has been displayed over in North London at Spurs in recent seasons. However, Slaven Bilic is yet to give a youth player any real permanent first team place in his short reign so far, but had this to say in a recent interview on the matter: “They all have a future, it’s up to them. They’ve been training with us and now it’s about time for them to play”.
So could we be seeing the next generation of future Hammers stars sooner than we may think? A couple of those starlets that have been turning heads in the world of youth Football have been Reece Oxford and Nathan Trott, who have both been called up to Keith Downing’s England squad for The European U19 Championships. The pair are an example just a few of the Claret and Blue youth players to have recently moved up through the international ranks, the future really does look bright in the home grown ranks of West Ham United.