Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain departure thanks to one man

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is on the verge of completing a £35 million switch to Chelsea. His departure, while disappointing and counterproductive for Arsenal, can be ascribed to the decisions of one man: Arsene Wenger.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is seemingly nearing an Arsenal exit. After six seasons in North London, many of which have been marred by injury and hinted at a potential greater than he ever reached, Chelsea had a £35 million offer accepted, and, barring a successful medical and agreement of personal terms, will sign the 24-year-old before Thursday night’s deadline.

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With just a year remaining on his current contract, there has been sustained reports linking Chamberlain with a move away from the Emirates. Throughout the summer, his future has been cast into doubt, with what could be classified as a saga stretching for months and months.

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While Arsene Wenger has continually protested that Chamberlain will not leave the club, proclaiming that he is a player who he wants to build the team around, the trajectory of the narrative suggested that he would no longer be an Arsenal player by the end of the summer. Chamberlain has repeatedly rejected the new deals on offer, has seemingly grown disillusioned with life in North London, and now feels that his career is better served elsewhere.

The fact that a player who, when he arrived at the club, was so enamoured with the influence of Wenger on the development of his career, has now completely reversed his position, such that he now feels that not only Wenger isn’t the best for his progression, but that Wenger is actually detrimental to it, is utterly damning to the state of the club, a club that traditionally bases itself on that very influence.

Chamberlain wanting to leave centres on his belief that he has been slighted by Wenger. The lack of a contract offer until this summer, the absence of apparent trust in his ability, often dropping him out of the side for the high-pressure games, rarely entrusting him with a significant role with important responsibilities, all have driven Chamberlain to a position of yearning for an exit.

And all of these issues derive from Wenger’s decision making. For whatever reason, Wenger has managed Chamberlain in a manner that has made him feel disrespected and slighted, and, although some of those decisions may have been vindicated and justified and Wenger should not manage in a way that is purely to satisfy his players, it is still the prominent force in driving a wedge between Chamberlain and the club.

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There is only one man to blame for Chamberlain’s impending exit. That man is Wenger. It may be Chamberlain who has been pining for an exit. But it was Wenger who invigorated that desire and for that, he should be criticised.