“If you said to me a year ago, or six months ago, you would get £40m for Oxlade-Chamberlain, I would’ve snapped your hand off.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Liverpool from Arsenal in a deal worth £40m on deadline day. A player who has scored nine league goals in six years, who has never started more than 50 percent of his team’s games in a season, and who wants to be a central midfielder, but wasn’t starting ahead of Granit Xhaka or Mohamed Elneny, is now one of Liverpool’s most expensive signings.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has cost more Mo Salah, who has three goals in five games for Liverpool. At that rate, the Egyptian should overtake his new teammate’s career goal record by around Christmas.
Oxlade-Chamberlain may be a good player, but there’s a lot to suggest Liverpool fans shouldn’t get too excited about their new signing.
Gary Neville has been speaking about the transfer, and while he wasn’t as strong on the deal as I have been, the former Manchester United defender seems surprised by it.
Neville stated the obvious point that, while he’s a talented player, Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t actually good enough to start ahead of any current Liverpool player in midfield and the forward positions, and that he is effectively just another squad player.
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“He doesn’t get into their best XI,” Neville told Sky Sports News HQ on Friday afternoon.
“Coutinho, Can, Henderson, Lallana, Salah, Mane, Firmino all play in front of him. I think everyone seems to be eulogising over Oxlade-Chamberlain in this last 24 hours, (but) he doesn’t get into their best XI. He doesn’t strengthen the team, but what he does do is strengthen the squad. He’s a player who, to be fair, could play in Jurgen Klopp’s style.
“He’s got huge talent, he’s a decent lad, but I think he has three or four areas of his game that he has to significantly improve, the biggest being his focus and concentration about being a really top professional and top player. I think that ultimately (his) talent and potential is fantastic, (but) ultimately his injury record has been poor. The biggest thing in terms of his impact is his assists and goals.”
Neville also said that he expects Oxlade-Chamberlain to do well for Liverpool this season, and be a useful player for the club’s Champions League and Premier League campaigns. But, once again, expressed surprise at the fee involved for the 24-year-old.
“I do think for Liverpool he should do well in these first six to 12 months. I don’t think he will play every single week, but with the Premier League and Champions League demands, he will be an asset for them. But, like I say, if you said to me a year ago, or six months ago, you would get £40m for Oxlade-Chamberlain, I would’ve snapped your hand off.
“That’s a brilliant deal to get. Now, we’re almost saying Liverpool have got a brilliant deal, I’m not sure why the shift in opinion, I think he’s still got to prove himself. But Liverpool will take him out of his comfort zone.”
Neville worked with Oxlade-Chamberlain when he was England coach under Roy Hodgson.
