Can Arsenal turn down Chelsea’s approach for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain?

Arsenal have added Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac to their evergrowing wage bill this summer, as well as increasing the size of their squad, which Arsene Wenger already described as ‘heavy’ at the end of last season.It would appear that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has refused to sign his new contract with the Gunners, and this has left Wenger a very big dilemma, especially after stating categorically that the Ox would be ‘100%’ playing for Arsenal this season.

With Wenger already refusing to sell Alexis Sanchez, and announcing that Olivier Giroud will also be staying, Le Prof is running out of selling options to try and recoup some of the money he has already spent on Lacazette. We already know that Kieran Gibbs is on the market to free up space for Kolasinac, and probably Lucas Perez will be sold off cheaply at the end of the window, but there are few players that Wenger could get big bucks for other than Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Chelsea’s Antonio Conte is rumoured to be the main suitor for the Ox, with Man City also said to be monitoring the situation, and they are probably the two teams that are most likely to splash the cash for a player with only one year left on his contract despite Liverpool being the early-summer favourites to sign him.

But what will Wenger do? He hates the idea of strengthening a rival for the title, but can he really afford to keep the Ox on the books and then let him leave for free next summer?

Le Prof must be a very worried man at the moment…

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37 Comments

  1. unless they wanna throw us hazard or kante
    or drop a cheeky 55 mill on our 100 percent venetian marble table

    beg you stay on the kings rd and focus on your kgb funded experiment

  2. For me, Ox is our best wing back. I think the problem is that Ox prefers playing further up the pitch where Ozil and Ramsey are probably ahead of him in the pecking order in Wenger’s eyes.

    I think Ox is a better right wingback than Bellerin. Bellering might be a better defender but I feel his forward excursions and final ball are not nearly as good as Ox’s and in the middle of the park Ox is also superior.

    1. I disagree.A wingback can be viewed as a defensive winger.Whether the Ox likes it or not he’s been blessed with the qualities of a winger.To me that’s his best position.He’s only doing well as a wingback because of his attacking abilities.As I said earlier a wingback can be viewed as a sort of defensive winger.That’s why CB’s who are used as RB or LB cannot play wingback.Wingback needs the player to be able to adapt himself like a winger while also being solid defensively.Ox has the attacking part but not the defensive part.With Bellerin we have the best of both worlds.He can attack,defend and also has the speed necessary to play wingback.I fear Ox being played at wingback will cost us when we play teams with tricky wingers.He should rather be challenging Sanchez or Ozil for their positions and not wingback.The guy hates to always have to defend which in truth he can’t.Oxlade Chamberlain’s best position is a winger and the earlier he comes to realise this the better.He’ll do well in other positions but the other positions will create a restriction on some of his qualities.

      1. i get really confused when it comes to OX his not great at defending and his finishing is poor and i find him the lone ranger at times not really linking with anyone but great individual runs with no end result, saying that he has improved a bit since his back from injury

        1. The guy is not a RWB nor is he a CM.Just by looking at how he plays you can tell he was made to be a winger.A wingback can be viewed as a defensive winger.He does well there because he’s able to play like a winger.However, if you ask me he’s terrible defensively.But I like the fact that he tracks back when he plays as a winger.At CM,he’s able to do very welll because his passing and crossing is excellent.However, over there he’s forced to restrict his runs and risk taking a bit because he’s playing at the center.As winger he has full freedom to expres himself.Here,he can use his running,crossing,risk taking and dribbling to great effect All he needs is to develop that certain level of cobsistency.He can really come good because he’s shown he can.

          1. Ox was miles better than Bellerin in that role last season. Oxlades discipline was better, he chose his moments going forward better and was rarely caught out of position. Whereas Bellerin you’d often see coming back down the field while allot of action was going on around our area. In my mind it worked out like you say, Bellerin would be great at this position. Ox was great in this position is the way it turned out in reality. His power was a great advantage and his runs did end with goals at times. His passing improved last season and he even showed he has a bit of a long ball game. Bellerin had a bad season in truth and he had some bad games at wingback too. I only remember thinking oow! not so good here, in one game concerning Oxlade, it was against Chelsea in the league.

            1. Break-on-through,
              Unbelievable you talked the truth and said it as you see it and people thumb you down. That’s the problem with our great club alot off the fanbase is as deluded as the manager these days.
              C.O.Y.G.

            2. That’s my point.He looks better than Bellerin there because he’s a better winger.As I said that a wingback can be viewed as a more defensive winger.I’d prefer to have Bellerin who can defend.Trust me it will cos us in big games.He’ll be destroyed.

      2. I was just about to type basically the same thing XD
        I think Bellerin is our best wingback, after him it could be Nelson if he can perform like he has in the EPL. I know people have moaned about M-Niles but I still think he can make a decent wingback, although I would say he is more of a utility player.

        Ox can not defend and if he isn’t in the mood to then he is a big liability, if we had no other player who could play RWB then it would be a forced decision, however we have Nelson who has done very well and MN who I think is the like Ox with AFC DNA.

        Ox inability to stay consistent along poor defending makes him not the best choice in CM which is where he wants to play, we will not use him in that spot so sell him. We have kids coming through who can replace him and he is on a chunk of a wage… WTF has Ox done to earn that?

        I am finding I dislike the Ox as more and more time goes by, reminds me too much of Ramsey, great potential but urghhhhh

    2. Here we go again another topic about the Ox guy….
      Let the clubs approach let him go and grab some money and get us some real players.
      “Superior” ?? C’mon maaan superior based on what?
      Can someone of you Ox fans explain to me what is it that you see in him?Why he so special to you?

  3. We need to be a little smarter on how we do business.

    There is a major difference between strengthening a rival with a squad player and strengthening an opponent with a WC player. Chelsea have a number of good young players who are either at par or better than Ox, while Arsenal needs to beef up the midfield. Chelsea has Matic/ Loftus/ Fabregas who are surplus. Man City also has a number of players we can get in exchange plus cash for OX. If clubs are not willing for an exchange slap a big fee on him or let them search elsewhere.

    Guaranteed we replace Ox with a player who will push for a starting spot I wouldn’t loose much sleep where ever he goes.

    1. He must not be sold.He’s also better than a lot of Chelsea youngsters.That’s not enough basis for him to be sold.At top form he’s better than Pedro,Moses and Willain.These are players whose main strength is dribbling and he tops them there no doubt.I remember him in one season having the highest dribble success rate percentage in the EPL.All he needs is to develop a level of consistency.A lot of their youngsters have potential but most won’t be good as the Ox.The Ox himself has not reached full potential yet.He hasn’t developed a certain level of consistency.Him also being a squad player is because of those above him.Those above him are all quality players.This won’t be smart business at all.He’s just going to destroy himself in another club and after being patient with him we are now deciding to sell him?

      1. Kev come on, he is better than Moses, but better than Pedro and Willian. What are you smoking these guys have proven themselves at the highest level, Pedro has won Labour Liga, the Champions League and a Premier League trophy. Willian has 2 EPL trophies the Uefa Cup and 5 leagues in the Ukraine. The Ox can be anything but he has proven nothing so far. He is injury prone and inconsistent. I love him as a player but you saying he is better than proven players at the highest level who have actually won real trophies is a big call and wrong if you ask me. If he wants to leave and is refusing to sign a contract see ya later. There are plenty off proven, consistent, non injury prone and better players out there we can get to replace him. Chelsea want him get Matic he is a proven player in a position that we lack his quality simple.
        C.O.Y.G.

      2. I got to disagree with this, you are assuming Ox WILL obtain consistency, he may not and always be a frustration.

        What has he done to earn the trust that he will become consistent?

        I do not think he deserves his wage and I am actually looking forward to the sale of The Ox, unless he steps up and earns his wage then I want him gone, we have kids with just as much promise and they are not requesting £100k plus a week.

        1. No mate , no more waiting for him to step up!
          Maybe he will …I dont care, no more waiting, not a minute!
          Sell him and fast!

  4. If they really want him, let’s swap him with Matic in order to strengthen our midfield. I think that would be a good business for us.

  5. a player who is injured after every 5 games? who has pretty bad decision making? sell him for big money

  6. Arsenal need to keep hold of ox as well as bringing in a creative mid since when ozil underperforms we need a plan b Madrid got ceballos even though his an isco clone we need a player in that mould like thiago from Bayern as well but who I would like insigne to replace Sanchez but italian clubs are tough to deal with

  7. dont deal with chelsea
    they should be done for war crimes for that ashley cole gallas deal

    an wenger should have received 30 lashes
    ahh we all make mistakes but that deal dammit

    1. As much as I praise Dein, Cashley said in his book that Dein was the one doing contract negotiations, Dein offered him a wage which Cashley thought was an insult.

      “I nearly swerved off the road. ‘He [Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein] is taking the piss, Jonathan!’ I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. I suppose it all started to fall apart for me from then on.” This is how Ashley Cole, in his autobiography My Defence, recalled the situation he faced when offered by the Arsenal hierarchy a salary of just £55,000 per week.”

  8. All this Wenger talk about players staying is a load Mind games bull??? to bump up the valuation on the players who only have one year left on their contracts. No club has officially bid or offered anything yet! Just wait and see how quickly they get sold when and if a decent offer comes in.

    1. I do not expect Wenger to turn round and say “They are for sale” if he wants to get as much from them as they can.

      I also feel that Wenger does want to keep the players but business gets put first at times.

      I expect ARSENAL to sell a player if a bid too large to reject comes in, that isn’t because of Wenger, that is because of the board and business model of the club.

  9. Please buy Cesc Fabregas as he can be Santi Cazorla & Ozil’s competitor. He has Arsenal DNA. Please forgive his mistake wenger and take him. He can still play 3 years. For me, we must not take risk in midfield as that is the most important place on pitch. Fabregas and Lemar in and Perez (already going out) and Wilshire (on loan or sell him).

    1. i was thinking the same thing just the other day, but would Conte let him go he loves the guy according to Costa 🙂

    2. I hope to never see that traitor in the red and white again, I recall at the time that Wenger said he believed he had a deal with Chelsea and where did he end up?

      Talk of Cesc wanting his ACM role and Ozil being the reason he didn’t join, Wenger had played Cesc as a CM and I honestly do believe Wenger wanted Cesc in CM with Ozil as ACM but Cesc turned us down.

      Cesc said that while he was with Barca that he kept in touch with Wenger but on joining Chelsea he has not heard from Wenger, that sounds like a jilted lover to me.

  10. If Chelsea want him it’s for the wingback role. It’d be a sickener if we finally squeeze something out of Oxlade only for Chelsea or someone else to benefit. That said I’m amazed he doesn’t want to sign with us, if that’s the case.

  11. What’s this nonsense about having to sell a player to balance books for lacazette? We need to offload deadwood and free wages yes but not selling to equal amount spent. You don’t see man city or man u doing that. We are arsenal and need to stop with that mentality

  12. pls have the squad gotten to england??….if yes what is delaying thomas lemar announcement as gunner…… #resource….. we need 4 signings we only got 2. …..wenger need be reminded??

    1. lol…I wish i’d punch that resource guy in the face every time i read his * Lemar is a done deal* ??. He’s gotten you innit? i pray you don’t get sad at the end cuz by then, i’ll probably be sitting in front of my tv smiling and watching our matches cuz i don’t see Wenger signing any world class player. but there’s nothing to moan about, i just learnt how to never expect players from Wenger??

  13. Ox has mainly disappointed in his now 7 years with Arsenal. His stats are atrocious. His injury record is abysmal. Sell him.

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