Early last January, The Sun claimed that Borussia Monchengladbach had submitted a £10 million bid for West Ham’s young defender Reece Oxford after his loan in the Bundesliga was brought to an end after just eight appearances.
On year on, the club can only dream of such a fee and, in fact, after just six months, Football London claimed in the summer that the asking price for the 20-year-old was set at £10 million.
After failing to make the first team squad at all under Manuel Pellegrini, it seems inevitable that Oxford’s future lies elsewhere even with two further years on his existing contract.
The club have shown that much of their transfer business in recent years has been misguided, and Oxford could just be the latest example of that.
Having made three appearances under David Moyes after that bid was rejected, perhaps the Scottish coach was involved in that decision but he has since failed to kick on.
Wildly inconsistent for the under 23s, where he is the captain of West Ham’s second string, he is doing little to convince any club to part with £10 million of their cash.
Now 12 months on, West Ham’s transfer bosses must be left regretting yet another decision from last January as Oxford rots in their reserves rather than providing a boost to the coffers.