Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Reconsider Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Plans
The 28-year-old had been expected to depart the club this summer but could stay if no new midfielder is signed.
Few Liverpool signings under Jürgen Klopp have impressed out of the gate as much as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did after arriving from Arsenal in the summer of 2017, with the England international quickly establishing himself as one of the manager’s favourites.
A knee injury later that season against Roma, though, dealt the midfielder a blow he hasn’t fully recovered from in the four years since, and in the later stages of last season Oxlade-Chamberlain regularly found himself unable to even make the matchday squad.
With just a year left in his contract, the assumption had been that he would move on as a result, with West Ham regularly talked up as a potential landing spot for a player in search of a clearer path to playing time. Now, though, things appear to have changed.
At least that’s the story from The Liverpool Echo this week, who cite the club’s decision to wait until 2023 to bring in midfield replacements after seeing Aurélien Tchouaméni sign for Real Madrid and with Borussia Dortmund unwilling to sell Jude Bellingham.
As a result, they say, Oxlade-Chamberlain is now expected to remain at the club, a situation that would likely see his role again limited barring a significant midfield injury crisis given the signing of Fabio Carvalho likely means eight names are now ahead of his.
Right now, Fabinho, Thiago, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keïta, Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones, James Milner, and Carvalho are likely ahead on the depth chart. Still, if Oxlade-Chamberlain can rediscover his 2017-18 form, he could still have a prominent role to play.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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