At the age of 16 years and 236 days, a record was broken in north London but sadly it wasn’t for Tottenham Hotspur.
A young player by the name of Reece Oxford took to the turf of the Emirates Stadium where he faced Spurs’ great rivals, Arsenal, in the claret and blue of West Ham United.
It was a moment that has gone down in history and is the very definition of a ‘streets won’t forget’ moment in the Premier League era.
Oxford became one of the Hammers’ youngest ever players and in the Premier League’s existence, he was the eighth youngest ever.
The sad thing is, that debut could well have been for Spurs.
Did Spurs make an error with Reece Oxford?
Definitely!
No way!
Indeed, in a parallel universe somewhere Oxford is the pride and joy of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium but in reality, he’s now playing for Augsburg in the Bundesliga.
Once upon a time, the 23-year-old was on the books of Spurs but left for nothing all the way back when he was just 13, being rejected by those within the academy.
Since then, his value has continued to rocket and since his debut in 2015, a match where he in the words of German outlet Kicker, he “pocketed” a prime Mesut Ozil, his estimations have increased the best part of a whopping 966%.
It has to be said that Oxford’s career hasn’t quite lived up to the hype since that famous display in Islington and although he wouldn’t now get in the Spurs first XI, the decision to reject him all those years ago is clearly a mistake.
West Ham know how to spot a young player when they see one but he is undoubtedly a player the Lilywhites could have utilised themselves or fetched a pretty eye-catching sum of money for.
Described as “truly astonishing” by Gary Lineker following his debut against the Gunners, it was thought that Oxford would go from strength to strength. However, despite his meteoric rise in transfer value, he is now battling against the odds to live up to his early promise.
He has appeared in all but four of Augsburg’s league matches this term due to injury but is now finally starting to make a name for himself again.
The titanic 6 foot 4 centre half has shown astute defensive qualities, winning 2.8 aerial battles a game and 2.8 interceptions per match.
As a result, the youngster has now played more senior matches this term than any other campaign during his career.
On the evidence above, suggesting Tottenham should have kept for a little while longer is an easy argument to make; he could have made Levy millions.
AND in other news, Conte could unearth his next Eriksen at Tottenham by unleashing 17 y/o “whole package”…