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Reading have confirmed the arrival of Reece Oxford on a loan deal from West Ham United. The 18-year-old will stay in Berkshire until the end of the season, and will provide important defensive cover whilst Tiago Ilori and Joey Van den Berg are out injured.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic was keen for Oxford to learn from a mentor like Jaap Stam:
SB: "Hopefully @Reeceoxford_ will go on loan to Reading today. The manager there was really important for me in that decision."#COYI
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) January 31, 2017
Speaking about the move, Nigel Howe said:
“Reece was a player who was wanted on loan by a number of clubs and we are absolutely delighted to have secured his services for the remainder of the season. He is young, but hungry for success and I am sure he will prove an excellent addition to our squad and learn a lot during his spell under Jaap Stam at Reading.”
Oxford is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season, but did feature in seven top flight games in 2015-16, including a high-profile debut in a 1-0 win over Arsenal on the opening day of the campaign, before he'd even picked up his GCSE results. The youngster has also earned caps for England at Under-16, U17, U18, U19 and U20 level.
He is of course unavailable for tonight's game at Birmingham, but could make his debut against Ipswich at the weekend.