West Ham United defender Reece Oxford has celebrated his 18th birthday by officially committing his long-term future to the club with a new four-and-a-half year contract that now promises to keep him a Hammers players until June 2021.
Issuing a public statement on Friday morning, West Ham proudly confirmed that the teenager had chosen to sign his new deal despite strong interest from Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal.
"I am happy to have signed my new contract. There was a lot of speculation about my future but I am happy that it has been done and I can get back to football. I just want to kick on now," Oxford told WHUFC.com.
"I have made my family proud and hopefully I have made the fans proud that I have signed a new contract. Hopefully I can get into the team and help them throughout the whole season," he added.
"I have a good relationship with the gaffer and hopefully I can get a lot of game time here. I have seen some of the old players like Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand and I want to follow in their footsteps.
"Hopefully, I can become just as big as them or even bigger. Hopefully, I can step out and follow what they have achieved."
Manager Slaven Bilic commented, "I am delighted and it is major news for both the club and the player that he has committed his long-term future to West Ham United.
"I really believe he has got everything. On paper he has all the abilities to become a world-class player and it is now up to him to train hard and for us to manage him well for him to fulfil it.
"We wanted him to stay and the board did everything to keep him. The interest from the other big clubs was real and that shows what a big talent he is."
Oxford made his senior debut at the age of just 16 on the opening weekend of last season as West Ham recorded a famous win over Arsenal. He played twice in the Europa League back in August but is yet to make any Premier League appearances in 2016/17.
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