There was a time when if you were asked to list the players to become England’s next superstar, the name Reece Oxford would have been near the top.
So dominant was the 16-year-old on his Premier League debut for West Ham against Arsenal in August 2015, shackling Mesut Ozil, that soon the comparisons began.
Oxford was ‘the new Rio Ferdinand’, a central defender who could also play in midfield, coming through the West Ham academy. It was apt, it stuck, and it weighed heavy.
Six years later, now aged 22, Oxford is trying to keep Augsburg in the Bundesliga.