Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger tells Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain he wants him to STAY at the club – but demands more
The 23-year-old has still to nail down a permanent position in the Arsenal XI, with many saying he needs to leave the club
ARSENE WENGER has urged unsettled Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to extend his Emirates stay.
But the Arsenal chief is warning England star Ox he must up his game to finally nail down a regular first-team place.
He is one of NINE Gunners stars about to enter the final year of their contracts.
Despite his advisors hinting he could leave this summer, Wenger is convinced the player’s heart remains at the club he joined six years ago.
Yet Oxlade-Chamberlain, 23, has started in less than half of Arsenal’s games this season — and is likely to be on the bench again for tonight’s must-win trip to Selhurst Park.
Wenger said: “I think it’s vital Alex stays at Arsenal.
“It would be a big damage to us to lose this kind of player.
“We bought him from Southampton when he was young and built him up.
“He has a good football brain and I like his mentality.”
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Wenger, though, admitted Oxlade-Chamberlain has not entirely trained on.
He added: “We have a group of young British players and need to make decisions on Ramsey, Chamberlain, Wilshere and Gibbs this summer and manage to keep them together.
“But we are in an inflationary market and have to consider the financial situation.
“So we can’t let players go into the final year of their deals. Things will get sorted out during the summer.
“First of all we need to keep the good players — and it is also important they also have the culture of the club.”
Six years after signing from Southampton in a £12million move, many people at the club are still not sure of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s best position.
Wenger said: “I played him in centre midfield a few years ago and he did well.
“When I didn’t have Mesut Ozil fit, I had to find a combination with him in the middle.
“He is an attacking player and you can see he is a guy who has dribbling skill and acceleration to play his way out of pressure.
“Alex can penetrate through the middle and sometimes, when he is out on the flank, I feel he is out of the game too much.
“He needs to be involved in the game and is more focused when he is in the middle. But he doesn’t have enough experience in that position defensively.
“He likes to take the ball and go at people and sometimes he can lose it, so he needs to get this out of his game.
“But he is also strong in the challenge and has a robustness to deal with tackles, which is very important in the Premier League.
“A problem with Alex is he is very critical of himself and is sometimes too harsh on his own performance.
“You can see him blaming himself on the pitch when he makes an error and sometimes that goes through his head when he gets the ball the next time.
“But he is working on that and I think he has improved a lot.”
Wenger is likely to stick with the team which beat West Ham last week, with keeper Emiliano Martinez continuing to deputise for the injured Petr Cech and David Ospina.
ARSENAL (likely): Martinez, Bellerin, Gabriel, Mustafi, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Walcott, Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck.