With Arsenal's defensive issues, it may come as a surprise that they are linked to yet another attacking midfielder - this time, a player who plays on the wing. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain plays for Southampton in League 1, and is being compared to Arsenal winger and former Southampton man, Theo Walcott. In March, he became Southampton's second youngest player to ever play in a match - behind Theo Walcott, at the age of 16 years and 199 days. Now 17, his club have said that he is better than Walcott was at the same age, and as a result will ask for a £10 million fee to prise the young Englishman away from St Marys.
A Southampton source said:
“A lot of the big clubs are watching Alex but it will take serious money to get him. The coaching staff rate him higher than Walcott at the same age and the club have sorted out their financial issues so are not under any great pressure to sell him for a knockdown fee. It will take Walcott money to get him.”
He is currently being played out on the wing, but his pace, strength, touch, awareness and eye for goal mark him out as a future central attacking midfielder - a role in which Arsenal have plenty of players. Liverpool on the other hand lack in this field, and their new director of football strategy Damien Comolli, has reportedly raised his interests in the young player.
It has been said that Theo Walcott would have benefited from staying at Southampton a few seasons longer instead of jumping into such a higher League so soon, and that way, he may have gained more experience and made a bigger impact at Arsenal. This may be another factor to consider for both the prospective clubs, Arsenal and Liverpool, as well as the player himself.
Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have a good track record when it comes to developing young talent, and Liverpool have recently been turning to their youth with players such as Jonjo Shelvey and Jay Spearing playing a larger role. Southampton will of course want to keep their starlet, but with two of the biggest clubs in English football interested, it would be hard for a young player to turn down such a big opportunity.
