Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has played 7 games for Arsenal this season, scoring 2 goals after his big-money move from Southampton in August 2011 – a club where he began to feature in the first-team at the tender age of 16, much like Theo Walcott.
Oxlade-Chamberlain looks like he’s settled in well at Arsenal. Though recent reports suggest that the young Englishman may want to leave the Emirates on a loan, due to his frustration at the lack of playing time he is currently receiving.
Despite not having started a single Premier League game, the 18-year-old insists he does not want to leave the club and has since denied reports claiming he is ready to go out on loan.
Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a total of 10 goals in 43 appearances for his former club and, looking at those numbers, I think its safe to say that he’s been rarely used by Arsene Wenger. So it’s easy to see where the rumours could come from.
AOC responded to the claims via his Twitter account. He tweeted:
‘Just to confirm, any rumours about me wanting to leave are completely false, couldn’t be happier at Arsenal AFC Victory Through Harmony.’
It’s always good to see a player committing himself to the club despite his lack of playing time. As for his loan move, I think he was right to rule it out.
With Gervinho off on international duty, AOC may get his chance to start ahead of a very unconfident looking Andrey Arshavin and Walcott, whose form is more like a rollercoaster at the moment, though the presence of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry will be an issue, but the ageing Frenchman surely won’t feature as much as many fans would like. And because of this I have faith in Wenger that Oxlade-Chamberlain will get a few games and run in the side in the upcoming weeks.
This is also a good opportunity for the England under-21 to learn from Henry and pick up a few tips. Oxlade-Chamberlain to me looks very promising, and him staying behind gives him a chance to learn from the current crop of players.
And besides, with the current list of players injured we might need him in midfield as we might see Alex Song drop to defence in order to plug the gaps in the injury plagued back four.
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LOVE this to be next seasons kit