Liverpool outcast Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has emerged as a priority summer transfer target for ambitious Premier League side Aston Villa.
According to Football Insider, Premier League side, Aston Villa are keen on signing Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the summer transfer window on a priority basis.
The Englishman moved to Anfield from Arsenal in the summer of 2017. Oxlade-Chamberlain enjoyed a promising debut season on Merseyside scoring key goals for the club and providing them with a driving force in midfield. Unfortunately, an injury sustained in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2018 against AS Roma proved to be a tipping point in his Liverpool career.
Oxlade-Chamberlain take a while to return to action and also failed to reach the same standards he set before his spell on the sidelines. While Jurgen Klopp did give him opportunities, the 28-year-old has found his role in the Liverpool squad being diminished as seasons have gone by.
He made 29 appearances last season, of which just 17 came as a starter. Oxlade-Chamberlain particularly found himself sidelined more as the season wore on and was largely even left out of matchday squads for the latter half of the Premier League campaign. With just a year left on his Liverpool contract, the time is ripe for the Reds to move him on.
Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa are interested in signing Oxlade-Chamberlain and are keen to land the player this summer. One of the finest midfielders of his generation, Gerrard could reignite Oxlade-Chamberlain’s flagging career at Villa Park. The Aston Villa boss admires the Liverpool outcast’s ability to score and create goals and hopes to use him in an attacking role.
Available for around £11 million, the 28-year-old represents a potentially dynamic addition that will add impetus to Aston Villa’s attack. In contrast to Philippe Coutinho’s silkier skills, Oxlade-Chamberlain is more of a driving force who can arrive late into the box and is also capable of making long-range strikes.
It has already been a fruitful summer for Aston Villa, who have brought in Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos. They also made Coutinho’s stay permanent, and the Brazilian could now reunite him with his former Liverpool teammate in Oxlade-Chamberlain.
A sale will not just reignite Oxlade-Chamberlain’s flagging career but also land Liverpool a decent amount of cash that they can reinvest elsewhere. Klopp appears to be rebuilding the Liverpool squad and could do with moving on underperforming assets.
