Arsenal have reportedly been linked with a shock swoop for Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to add more depth to their midfield.
The English midfielder, 28, spent six years at the Emirates Stadium before joining Liverpool in a £35 million deal in 2017. However, the 28-year-old has managed only 109 appearances across four full seasons at Anfield, not helped by a spate of injuries and inconsistency he has suffered so far in his Liverpool career.
Since returning from a knee injury in December 2020, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has made a paltry four appearances and having fallen down the midfield pecking order behind young guns Harvey Elliot and Curtis Jones this season, the Sun claims the Englishman feels he needs a new challenge and is considering the prospect of re-joining Arsenal in the January transfer window.
Liverpool are unlikely to stand in the way of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has a contract until 2023. The report adds the Gunners are keen on signing the player on a six-month deal in January with an option to buy at the end of the season.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Arsenal – A good addition to the Gunners?
It is easy to understand why Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is weighing up options to reinforce his midfield unit in January.
Granit Xhaka has been ruled out of action for three months with a serious knee injury sustained in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over fiercest rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby last month, thereby, sidelining him until the New Year.
In addition to Xhaka’s injury, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January means Arteta will have very limited options in midfield to select from in the second half of the season.
To put things into perspective, there is a genuine possibility of the north London giants making a move for a midfielder in the next transfer window but links with Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain simply doesn’t strike the right chords.
Recurrent injury problems and chronic inconsistency hasn’t helped Oxlade-Chamberlain in unlocking his true potential under Jürgen Klopp at Anfield. He has missed no less than 74 games due to various injury problems in four years with the Merseysiders – a record that isn’t good reading at all.
The English midfielder hasn’t played a lot of games for the Reds in the last two years and is desperately out of form at the moment. With a bad injury record known to all, it is difficult to tell whether or not the 28-year-old still has the same quality and intensity to match the standards of Premier League football week in week out.
All in all, a move for Oxlade-Chamberlain feels like a disaster waiting to happen for Arsenal. If Arteta and co. are planning to recruit a midfielder in the mid-season trading period, they must shift their attention elsewhere.