Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain exit would undermine everything

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is reportedly wanting an Arsenal exit after continual delays with discussions over a new contract. If true, his departure would undermine everything good about Arsene Wenger’s youth-first approach.

Given the eternal, helpless optimism of football fans, as the summer transfer window rolls towards us, we tend to focus on the upcoming good, rather than the worries and the fears of potential departures. For Arsenal, given their hesitancy to spend and their complacency with contracts, that may be a particularly hopeless cause.

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That is especially true this summer. Much attention has been paid to the potential departures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil; both have just one year remaining on their current deals, after delaying talks on a number of occasions over the past year, and are of the calibre above that of what the club can attract.

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However, there are far more players that are in worrying precarious situations than just the starring duo. Jack Wilshere, Wojciech Szczesny and Kieran Gibbs all have just one more year to run on their current deals, with the former two having just returned from loan years at Bournemouth and Roma respectively, Olivier Giroud has reportedly been told he can leave, with the possibility of Alexandre Lacazette potentially coming in to replace him, while Nacho Monreal, Gabriel Paulista and Theo Walcott are all not assured of a squad place next season.

But perhaps the most significant name to face an uncertain summer is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. After an emerging year where he began to establish the fulfilment of his talent in the first team, Chamberlain, who feels slighted by the lack of a contract offer on the table having just one more year remaining, has allegedly come to the conclusion that he would like to leave the club for the furthering of his career.

If that is the case, then he undermines everything good about Arsene Wenger’s youth-first policy. The Arsenal manager has always moulded the club such that he can acquire and develop young talent, reaping the benefits, both financially and in terms of the cohesion and collective understanding of the team. That philosophy has not been better embodied in a player than in Chamberlain and his rise this season.

However, now that he has turned 23 and is set to enter his prime, if Arsenal were forced to sell him, only for another club to enjoy the best years of his career, then it would utterly undermine all of the investment, all of the time, money and energy that has been put in to produce a player of his calibre and quality.

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More than Ozil, more than Sanchez, more than Giroud, the one player who I most worried about leaving North London this summer is Oxlade-Chamberlain. While he may not be the best, most influential player to leave the club in the coming months, he is the one that would rock Wenger’s philosophy to its core, and that is extremely worrying indeed.