After impressing significantly in his new wing-back role, the Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to be rewarded a bumper new contract to stay in North London. According to John Cross of the Daily Mirror, the Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is set to make the England international a part of Arsenal’s elite £100,000 a week club.
After struggling to live up to the hype that he created since arriving at the Emirates as an 18-year-old, the winger has had a comparatively better campaign this season and has excelled particularly in his new wing-back role.
Considering that the player has only one year to run on his current deal, there has been a lot of speculation over a potential departure, with both Liverpool and Manchester United said to be closely monitoring developments.
But has the Ox actually been consistent enough to warrant a deal worth £100,000 a week? In all honesty, I don’t think he’s done enough. Apart from some glimpses of brilliance, the former Southampton star has once again not been the most consistent of performers, although I must admit that he’s improved on that front since Arsene Wenger shifted to the new back-three system and has shown improvements in his final ball as well.
But the fact that Wenger is set to offer a deal of that magnitude to a 23-year-old mostly on the fringes of the team tells me that the under-fire Arsenal boss is set to modify the wage bill ahead of the new campaign. So with that being said, if Oxlade-Chamberlain has done enough to warrant a deal worth £100,000 a week, then surely Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez surely deserve in excess of £200 a week?
Anurag