Arsenal: Lorenzo Insigne Would Not Amend Oxlade-Chamberlain Exit

Arsenal are tied to Lorenzo Insigne yet again, but the arrival of the Italian would not make up for the exit of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

On the surface, this may seem like sort of a daft point. A bonfide starter at a needed position should almost certainly make up for a fringe player that doesn’t know what position he wants to play. But Arsenal would be foolish to think that swapping Insigne for the Ox is a profitable return.

For starters, the financial investment that it would take to pull Insigne away from Napoli would be astronomical. He wants to sign a “contract for life” according to the Daily Star. And, quite frankly, that doesn’t sound too far off when considering how dedicated of a Neapolitan he is.

All of that aside, I am here to argue the case for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The young Englishman has been caught in a Groundhog day of wearing the “prospect” status. Injuries and lack of use has curtailed any hopes he had of finding consistency.

This year started out as his best statistical year in Gunners history and, despite sporadic usage, it still is. The upside is still so clearly there and the consistency seems to be right on the brink of becoming a reality.

Again though, why wouldn’t we trade potential for a proven product?

Well, my argument has stipulations. I now see Oxlade-Chamberlain as a central midfielder and that is how I am judging him. Whether Wenger does or not is a different story, but it’s clear that, given the right experience, the Ox can truly make the central midfield position his home.

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That is the first stipulation. The second is that no other central midfielders (Rabiot, Isco) would be brought in assuming this swap happens.

We are simply losing too much upside at the most crucial position of all by meddling with a sale of the Ox. Combining the Ox and Xhaka has only just begun and it looks mighty promising. Again, it is going to need time to cultivate, but the pairing has everything we could possibly want in a midfield pairing.

Elneny and Coquelin cannot replicate that.

So while having a sure-fire wide attacker that can score goals consistently would be an incredibly valuable addition, it would not be as valuable as a central midfielder who can actually do what the Ox looks like he can do.

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That being said, if Insigne can be purchased and the Ox can hang around, that would be great.

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