Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Matic dumbest rumor all year

Arsenal are reportedly going after Nemanja Matic and offering Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as bait. Literally the dumbest rumor you’ll hear all year.

There are lots of shapes an Arsenal transfer rumor can take. Sometimes you see a rumor and you think “that’d be kind of cool,” or maybe “yeah, let’s do that,” or perhaps “I hope we don’t do that.” But rarely ever do we get the privilege of seeing a rumor and thinking “how f***cking stupid do you think we are?”

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That last one? That’s what we are dealing with here. The Sun has reported that Arsenal are so into the idea of landing Nemanja Matic that they are willing to offer up the prolific Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as part of the deal.

Seriously.

There are so many things wrong with this rumor I don’t even know where to start. First of all, the Ox is worth about twice what Matic is, if not more. Sure, Matic is a quality player to stuff into a midfield role and let him do his thing. But he can’t change a game. He can’t create, he can’t alter the flow of things, he can’t do 95% of what Oxlade-Chamberlain can do.

That is the only logic we need to disprove this. But wait, there’s more.

Oxlade-Chamberlain wants to be a midfielder. He is a midfielder, essentially, and if it was first team assurances that Oxlade-Chamberlain wants, then why wouldn’t the Gunners just give him those assurances rather than buying Matic, who, as I might have mentioned, does a teeny-tiny fraction of what the Ox does.

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It’s utter garbage. Complete rubbish.

Then there is the matter of Matic already being linked to Manchester United, who have a much better opening than the Gunners do, as the Gunners already have four midfield options, two of which should be maintaining that role come hell or high water (Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey).

Which, by the way, both of those guys offer more than Matic.

Hogwash!

That’s all this is. This is such a dumb idea and so completely unlike Arsene Wenger and the Gunners. Trading a prolific young talent who just wants some midfield action for a flat-lining midfielder? What part of that makes sense?

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That said, it has come time to stop messing around with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s contract situation. The man wants to stay, that’s so obvious to see, yet with just a year left on his deal, time is certainly ticking.