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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Chris Doyle

Roy Keane suggests Arsenal got one over Liverpool by banking £35million

Roy Keane claims Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's career has stalled since swapping Arsenal for Liverpool.

The Englishman joined Jurgen Klopp's men in the summer of 2017 for a reported £35million fee.

Oxlade-Chamberlain shocked Arsenal by expressing his desire to leave his boyhood club as he rejected their £180,000-a-week contract offer with a year left on his deal.

The Gunners' hands were tied and chose to cash in on Oxlade-Chamberlain so he didn't leave as a free agent the following summer.

Klopp converted the 28-year-old into a central midfielder after predominantly playing as a winger for Arsenal - a position change that seems to have brought the best out of the player.

Who got the better deal on Oxlade-Chamberlain? Arsenal or Liverpool? Have your say in the comments below.

Roy Keane reckons Chamberlain's career has stalled at Liverpool (ITV)

Oxlade-Chamberlain's honours during his time at Anfield include a Champions League, a Premier League, a Club World Cup, a Super Cup and a Carabao Cup, although the playmaker has been on the periphery of Klopp's side at times due to injury problems.

The general consensus is that the move has been a success for Oxlade-Chamberlain given the fact he has been a part of a historic Liverpool side.

But Keane doesn't see it that way and reckons the midfielder has been "left behind" in recent years.

He said on ITV : “Injury problems. He (Oxlade-Chamberlain) is now, what 28? His career has stalled over the last years. He has been left behind a little bit.

“But a quality player.”

Klopp would push back on that claim as he said in December that Oxlade-Chamberlain's form was “pretty much the best” of his Liverpool career.

“It’s pretty much the best Oxlade since I am here,” the Liverpool manager said. “I know he was more spectacular in moments, scored wonderful goals against [Manchester] City and really good goals for us, but it is a completely new quality now – calming the game down, being not only the sprinter with the ball or the shooter but being involved in all the things on the pitch.

"It is a massive step. I am really happy with Ox at the moment and hopefully, it stays like this.”

The England international will be out of contract at the end of next season, but Klopp insists a decision on whether to offer an extension is not a priority at present.

Jurgen Klopp reckons Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has shown his best form this season (AFP via Getty Images)

“I think it is a completely normal situation,” he said. “It is about what makes sense for both sides in six or 18 months or whatever. But it is not important at all at the moment. In this moment what is important is how do you contribute when you play? That is the only thing.

“We will not stay together for ever. That is how it is. If someone wants to go somewhere else we have to find a solution for it. If we want to find somebody from another club we have to find a solution for it – all these kind of things. But it has nothing to do with now. It’s about how you play in the moment and then you are in the starting lineup.

“If your contract expires in two days, four months or five years it makes absolutely no difference. All the players are important because they can really contribute in the moment when they start or when they come on and that is why they are Liverpool players.”

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