Arsenal: Arsene Wenger Must Give Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain His Most Prized Possession

The future of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is far from clear. To keep him at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger must give him his most prized possession: trust.

The futures of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are the dominating narrative of Arsenal’s season. The only two players to be considered as members of the established, footballing elite, it would be a hammer blow for the trajectory of the club to lose them in the summer as their contracts wind down.

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However, amid the furore surrounding the duo, there are other names that have slipped through the cracks of discussion, and now, also with just one year remaining on their current contracts, face a defining summer in which their futures will be decided. One of these is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and, when asked about his recent success and his future, Arsene Wenger was quick to highlight the importance of the task at hand, stating:

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"“It [his future] will be decided in the summer – we have a big job to do in the summer. He’s done very well at wing-back. In the future, on long term, he will play in central midfield. What he is doing at the moment will help him to be a successful central midfielder as well. I think Alex is one of the players who has developed very well mentally. He is more positive, more confident, more mature.”"

And Chamberlain’s future is far more uncertain than many may expect for a player that has seen the club sign him when he was just 17, invest time, money and effort into his development and has provided him with the opportunity to play at the highest possible level. There have been musings in the past that he would like to leave, and he has grown frustrated by the positional uncertainty that has clouded his development, the apparent ambivalence of the club towards his services by allowing his contract to wind down, and the lack of a starring role in the side.

At just 23 years of age, Chamberlain is entering a key period of his career. To keep him at the club, while increasing his wages or increasing his starting opportunities or promising the world to him are all well and good, there is one thing that he clearly wants more than any other: trust.

Wenger, for some reason that it is difficult to understand, does not trust Chamberlain. A little like Theo Walcott earlier in his development, Wenger is unwilling to pin the side’s hopes on Chamberlain, perhaps wary that he may not fulfil them. But the Ox is clearly asking to be the star of the team, the central cog in the machine, the man that makes everything tick.

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He certainly has the talent to do so. He has the desire and now the experience. But he also needs the trust of Wenger, and without it, I fear that he may look to leave, finding a team that will entrench him as their unquestioned cornerstone.