Arsenal: Riyad Mahrez would not justify Oxlade-Chamberlain departure

The latest rumours suggest that Riyadh Mahrez could join Arsenal, with Oxlade-Chamberlain on his way out. However, this would not be a justifiable deal.

There are also those who believe that Riyad Mahrez could be a top-quality, title-winning, premier league-experienced replacement for Alexis Sánchez, who looks increasingly likely to leave Arsenal.

However, with Wenger having invested so much into the player’s grooming and development, and with the fans seeing the best football of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain‘s career since his shift to right-wing back in the 3-4-2-1 system, it would be a bad decision to let the Englishman go know, just as he looks on the cusp of something.

If Mahrez does arrive, it would presumably be to occupy Sanchez’s current role just behind the striker, as he has never played wing-back in his life. He probably wouldn’t be very good in that role either, as his physicality, defensive awareness and work-rate leave a lot to be desired.

Mahrez’s positional inflexibility might also pose a problem for Arsenal. He has almost no experience playing outside of his right-winger role.

By contrast, Oxlade-Chamberlain can play anywhere behind the striker, and even filled in briefly in central midfield during an injury crisis. In losing the Ox, but bringing in Mahrez, Arsenal would not only switch a wing-back for a winger, but would also deprive themselves of an extra option in midfield, where recent problems have been compounded by Santi Cazorla’s injury setback.

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Another spanner has been thrown into the works in the form of quota regulations. In a nutshell, a maximum of 17 members of a club’s 25 member squad can be foreign, with the remainder having to be homegrown. Alexandre Lacazette is the 17th, and so space would have to be cleared before Mahrez or anyone else could be brought in.

However, if they lost Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arsenal would be taking another step back, as they would lose a home-grown player. Consequently, they would have to promote someone from the youth ranks, but no one of those candidates especially stands out. In addition, another senior foreign player (Giroud?Perez? Debuchy?) would have to be sold before the approach for Mahrez made.

Thus, it seems apparent that retaining Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is vastly more important for Arsenal than signing Riyad Mahrez.

Next: 3 Statistics You Need To Know About Alexandre Lacazette

What are your thoughts? Would Mahrez justify the loss of Oxlade-Chamberlain? Would he be a useful addition at all? Does the Ox deserve a new contract? On what terms? Have your say in the comments below.

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