Arsenal reportedly ready to welcome back Liverpool midfielder

Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is said to want to leave Anfield in search of regular football and from the one publication, other talks have begun of a potential return to his old club Arsenal.

Are Arsenal finish with their recruiting this season? Apparently not. As it was in the summer, rumours suggest the Gunners are in for a busy winter as well; they are looking at bringing in a striker, possibly a spare attacking mid and some extra cover at the back.

The former, which is their search for a striker, will only commence and become a bit more frantic (if it’s not already) once the exit of Alexandre Lacazette is confirmed and a reality.

As for the extra cover at the back, with Pablo Mari and others struggling to substitute for Gabriel Magalhaes and/or Ben White when either is absent, defensive cover is begging if the Gunners are to achieve a European finish at the end of this season.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain limited game time

It’s been a mixed time at Anfield for the former Gunner. Chamberlain got off to a good start when arriving at Anfield in the summer of 2017 for a fee of £35 million.

Following a challenge in the Champions League back in 2018 that caused multiple ligament damage to the Ox, which also ruled him out for a full season thereafter, he struggled to string together a good run of games or recapture the form he was displaying before his long-term lay-off.

He spoilt us with some long-lasting memories during this period, like is his wonder strike against Man City to help knock them out of the tournament. His longest stint came in 2019/20, making 41 appearances across all competitions, however, only 23 of those were starts, 17 of those coming in the Premier League.

It never got better for Chamberlain, from mid-2020 to date (one full season and 10 games), he has only played 22 times for the Reds, only starting four of the 22 featured in. At 28-years-old and regarded as an injury-prone outfielder, time is ticking away.

Where to? A return to North London to rejoin Arsenal?

Not long after the reports of him wanting to leave Merseyside for regular first-team minutes, Arsenal’s name popped up and has not gone away. It is being said that Mikel Arteta sees his old teammate as the perfect player to join his squad and help take them forward.

There are reasons for the links and Arteta’s interest:

"According to The Sun, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is considering the possibility of re-signing his former teammate in the next transfer window for two reasons.One is to help develop the Gunners’ young stars, including the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard.The other is to ensure the north London outfit avoid a potential midfield crisis, with Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny both likely to depart in January for the Africa Cup of Nations and Granit Xhaka unlikely to be rushed back following his extended period on the sidelines with a knee injury."

If the deal starts to materialise between the two English rivals, Arsenal will look to gain his services from Liverpool during January on a six-month loan with an option to make permanent at the end of the season.

"In addition, the report states that Arsenal are looking to sign Oxlade-Chamberlain on an initial six-month loan deal with the possibility of making his stay permanent at the end of the season.(Via: football.london)"

It will be hard to convince the Reds to part ways with the midfielder when they have already not replaced Philippe Coutinho and Georginio Wijnaldum – even though they have great youth prospects coming through the ranks such as Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones – two players he has fallen behind in the pecking order for.

A permanent move from the offset will be more appealing to FSG, as they look to raise funds for new incomings… Still! Arsenal offers another role where he would have to play to get into the starting XI, but will not be the fourth or fifth choice as it is now at Liverpool.

Arsenal needs the experience of the midfielder and the funds to re-invest in younger players at Anfield is required as well – all parties involved win except the player himself – as the move would not guarantee more game time.

Arsenal need experience plus the numbers

Numbers in the middle of the pitch is always a must and the North London club have already been punished this season for not having the quality in depth. They will not want to repeat their opening days miseries.

With the additional news of some midfielders wanting out of the Emirates after just making the switch to North London, links for new midfielders will start appearing a lot more frequently.