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Sick to the teeth

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger must be sick of the sight of Liverpool this season. Fresh off the heels of a 4-0 drubbing to Jurgen Klopp’s men on Sunday, today Wenger is forced to concede defeat in his bid to keep Oxlade-Chamberlain at The Emirates. The midfield dynamo has signed for Liverpool, the club he supported as a child.

It’s been an open secret that Oxlade-Chamberlain has wanted to join Liverpool this summer but Wenger has been adamant that he would not sell to a rival. However with Oxlade-Chamberlain entering into the final year of his contract and refusing to sign a new deal, Wenger has decided to cash in on ‘The Ox’ now (to the tune of £35million) or risk losing him next summer for free.

Mismanagement

Arsenal fans must be scratching their heads wondering how the club have allowed top players Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain get down to the final year of their contract this summer. Having missed out on Champions League football (with Liverpool pipping them to fourth place), Arsenal find themselves prey to big clubs sniffing around their best players.

Sanchez has been heavily linked to Manchester City. Ozil is linked to Barcelona. And now Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to join Liverpool. Without the lure of Champions League football Arsenal will struggle to find quality replacements. Alexandre Lacazette has been their main signing this season however he will have a major void to fill should either Ozil or Sanchez follow Chamberlain out of the door.

Utility player

So what have Liverpool got in Oxlade-Chamberlain? Well, I think he is a player with bags of potential however he is by no means the finished article. This season he will likely be a good versatile squad player. He has the pace to deputise for Mane or Salah on the wing. Or he can fill in for Lallana (or Coutinho, if he stays) in Attacking CM. He could even do a job at full-back against lesser opposition. Chamberlain is young enough to push on but it would be a surprise to see him as a first team mainstay this season.

Signal of intent

More importantly signing Oxlade-Chamberlain is a signal of intent. It shows that Liverpool are not afraid to spend big to improve the squad. With talks to sign Thomas Lemar stalling, they have shown they have no qualms in acting decisively and moving on to plan B.

Liverpool are also taking full advantage of their Champions League status. Four years ago the roles were reversed. Luis Suarez was keen to leave Liverpool for Champions League football with Arsenal. Arsenal thought they had activated Suarez’s buy-out clause with a £40,000,001 bid. The Liverpool owners dug their heels in and refused to sell to a rival. Even though Suarez joined Barcelona a year later. Not selling the Uruguayan to Arsenal has proved pivotal in Liverpool bridging the gap to the Gunners and taking their seat at the top table.

Now Liverpool have used the draw of Champions League football to succesfully prise Oxlade-Chamberlain away from Arsenal. It is reported that Arsenal offered the 24 year-old £180k per week to re-sign with them. Chelsea had offered him £200k per week. Apparently Chamberlain will take home "only" £125k per week from his deal with Liverpool. Such is the lure of playing for Liverpool to Chamberlain.

Mass appeal

Buying Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal will further re-enforce the impression that Liverpool are a team with more ambition than the London club. Liverpool are also showing they have a renewed pulling power. Oxlade-Chamberlain rejected advances from Chelsea and the option to stay at Arsenal to join Liverpool. He is not the only one. Southampton’s Virgil Van Dijk has made no secret of his desire to join the Reds ahead of their rivals. Naby Keita agreed to join Liverpool next year despite late interest from Barcelona. It is said that Monaco’s Thomas Lemar is also keen on a move to Anfield. Jurgen Klopp certainly appears to be building a team that is making waves across Europe.

Plot twist

What happens over the next few days is crucial to the perceived success of this transfer window for Liverpool. If they keep Philippe Coutinho it will be seen as a good window. Adding Mo Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Dominic Solanke to an already potent attack with Naby Kieta arriving next year will be impressive. The only gripe will be not signing a major central defender. If however Coutinho goes and Liverpool do not seal the signing of Thomas Lemar then it will deflate the atmosphere around Anfield. Liverpool will have again sold their best player and made a net profit in the transfer window for yet another season.

In recent years, Liverpool tend to shop up shop early on Transfer Deadline day. This year however promises to be pretty eventual. All eyes will be on the comings-and-goings at Anfield.

Either way, it is likely that they will extend the gap between themselves and Arsenal in this window. Especially now they have nabbed The Ox.

Full disclosure, I’m a Liverpool supporter (in case you haven’t guessed)…. Arsenal not so much. ;)