Rangers are facing a battle for Oxford

A DEAL to take highly-rated teenager Reece Oxford to Ibrox on loan remains some way off despite Rangers opening talks with West Ham United.

Sportsmail revealed the English Premier League side had been approached to see if they were willing to allow the 18-year-old defender to leave until the end of the season.

That option remains open, but West Ham are evaluating the next step in the development of a player regarded as having ‘world-class’ potential by manager Slaven Bilic.

The current make-up of the Rangers squad could present a further obstacle, as Mark Warburton already has four centre-halves in Rob Kiernan, Clint Hill, Danny Wilson and Philippe Senderos.

Former Swiss international Senderos has, however, made only

two competitive appearances after his arrival last summer. Oxford can play in a holding midfield role, but Rangers have already signed Emerson Hyndman on loan from Bournemouth to bolster that area. Fellow midfielder Jon Toral also joined on loan from Arsenal as Warburton sought to maximise his limited January budget. Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal monitored Oxford before he signed a four-and-a-half-year deal on his birthday back in December. An ankle injury kept him out for two months this season, with the centre-half appearing only in the Europa League qualifiers at the start of the campaign. He made West Ham’s bench three times in January, but is yet to play in a league game this season. Speaking in December, after the club extended Oxford’s deal, Bilic said: ‘I believe he has everything. 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.’