Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will probably feel vindicated after leaving Arsenal three years ago – and he should.
Before the month is out, the 26-year-old midfielder will have a Premier League winner’s medal to go with the one that he picked up when Liverpool won the Champions League last year.
In the same time, Arsenal have done nothing except sack managers, fail to get into the Champions League and sign – and then re-sign – David Luiz.
He left North London to win the sort of trophies that he rightly felt he couldn’t at the Emirates Stadium.
If he starts, Oxlade-Chamberlain will be given a Guard of Honour at his former home tonight, but it could and probably should be the Gunners who feel happier about the deal than those at Anfield.
That’s because, according to The Guardian, Arsenal picked up £40 million for Oxlade-Chamberlain – the most they’ve ever sold a player for – and the England international has only started 29 Premier League games in three seasons, making 61 appearances in total in that competition.
There’s no denying that injury has a played a big part in why he hasn’t featured more often but, even without that, the numbers suggest Oxlade-Chamberlain has been a squad player – a £40 million one – and there’s no reason for Arsenal fans to lament his sale tonight, no matter what he does in the match.
Arsene Wenger gets a lot of criticism for Arsenal’s transfer activity in his final year, like giving Mesut Ozil a £350,00-a-week contract, or swapping Alexis Sanchez for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
But forcing Liverpool to spend that amount of money – which is more than what they spent on Mo Salah or Sadio Mane, incidentally – has to be considered a masterstroke from the Frenchman.
It must be noted that Wenger wanted to keep Oxlade-Chamberlain, who accepted less money to join Jurgen Klopp’s side in what is testament to his ambition, but as much as the player was vindicated in wanting to leave, Arsenal were vindicated in selling at the right time.
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