With just three days to go before the transfer window closes, all the long, pending speculations are gradually gaining fruition. And the latest to attend that is Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deal to Chelsea. According to Sky Sports, the English winger has agreed on a move to Chelsea with the price hovering somewhere around £35 million.
The 24-year-old has been one of Arsenal’s many utility players over the past few seasons and Arsenal selling him to Chelsea could definitely come back to haunt the North London club, who are having a harrowing time in Premier League at the moment.
The winger is out of contract at the end of the season and with Arsenal already making their intentions straight about holding on to Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, who have a similar contract situation, running the risk of losing another player for free looked foolish.
Chamberlain will be with the England squad at St George’s Park and Sky Sports News claims that most part of his medical could be carried out at England’s training centre. The winger continued his underwhelming display from the wing back role on Sunday as Arsenal saw a heavy 4-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool and that was in all probability his last game for Arsenal.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has maintained consistency in his desire to hold on to the player at the Emirates in the long-term and recent reports had claimed that Arsenal had proposed a new offer to him that could have seen his weekly wage rise to £180,000. However, Chamberlain rejected it in favour of a move outside and Arsenal had little choice then.
Premier League rivals Liverpool were also interested in the Southampton academy product but it is Chelsea who have won the race as the player preferred to stay in London. Apparently, the player had met with Wenger before their weekend trip to Anfield and he was still named in the starting line-up for the game, which explains his poor display.
Antonio Conte has been in the market for a wing back who would give competition to the likes of Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses, and Chamberlain fits the bill perfectly. The English midfielder arrived at Arsenal back in 2011 when he was a 17-year-old. He has since played 132 games for Arsenal in the league scoring nine goals and providing 18 assists.
Arsenal would be happy considering the transfer fee they have managed to squeeze out from his sale, given his injury history. The player has missed 43 games for the club owing to long-term knee injuries and Conte would hope the player remains on his feet now.
