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Coventry gambling with his West Ham career

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OPINION

Former West Ham United starlet Reece Oxford is a cautionary tale for any up and coming young footballer. His demise proves that no matter how talented you are, if you don’t apply yourself then you could end up in a downward spiral.

The 20-year-old has gone from being held up as the next big thing in east London to struggling for game time with German minnows Augsburg, and that’s something to bear in mind.

However, it appears that current Hammers teenager Conor Coventry hasn’t learned a thing from Oxford. Football Insider reported on Monday that the 19-year-old’s future with the club is up in the air because his representatives are demanding £5,000-per-week in contract negotiations.

The central midfielder’s current deal expires at the end of the season, and the club are currently working on sorting out an extension. However, manager Manuel Pellegrini isn’t prepared to be held to ransom by a player with no Premier League experience.

There’s no reasonable reason why Coventry should be earning that amount of money when he’s not made his breakthrough into the first team yet. It’s not like he’s Declan Rice before his contract extension last season where he was established as a top flight regular, this is a man with only two senior appearances for the Hammers.

The youngster is surely gambling with his West Ham career, here. If he’s not careful, and if he doesn’t rein his reps in a little bit, then he could become the next Oxford.

If he leaves the London Stadium he won’t end up at a club as big as the Irons. He will likely have to take a tumble down the Football League pyramid, if not make the jump to an obscure foreign side as Oxford did.

With that said, he needs to get his house in order quickly. Whether from his instruction or not, his agents are asking for way too much. He must calm them down.

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