Despite joining Borussia Monchengladbach on a season-long loan back in the summer, it’s taken until the last weekend of October for the England U20 international to make his debut for the Bundesliga outfit.
West Ham were unhappy that Oxford wasn’t playing for Monchengladbach and there has been talk that he will return in January but perhaps his late cameo appearance off the bench last weekend in a 3-1 win over Hoffenheim is a sign that he’s turned the corner and Dieter Hecking is ready to trust him with a larger role. You can bet on Monchengladbach’s next Bundesliga game here at online-sportwette.net.
Oxford took to Instagram to display his joy at making his debut for Monchengladbach and he’s looking forward to his next outing.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BazOWYwleNs/
The 18-year-old was nominated for the Golden Boy award which came as a shock as his Monchengladbach bow only marked his sixth senior appearance of 2017 which has been a pretty disappointing year for the teenager.
Ready to take the next step after making 14 appearances in a breakthrough 2015/16 campaign, Oxford started two of West Ham’s Europa League qualifiers at the start of last season but struggled to make his mark after the Hammers were eliminated from the competition before the group stages.
An unused sub in six of West Ham’s first nine Premier League games, Oxford suffered an ankle injury in October which sidelined him until the New Year. Eager to get him some first-team football, Slaven Bilic sent him on loan to Championship side Reading but he only made five appearances for the Royals.
Oxford’s progression has stalled of late, but there’s no doubting his talent and he’s still thought of highly in the West Ham ranks, illustrated by the handing of a five-year contract shortly after his 18th birthday last December.
Declan Rice has again illustrated that Bilic will give opportunities to young players who are good enough and continued progress at Monchengladbach, who proved to be a good foster home for Chelsea centre-back Andreas Christensen, could see him make further strides at West Ham next season.
