As an Arsenal fan, watching Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain play is one of the most frustrating things to witness.

On some days, Chamberlain is a world beater and looks like he can literally take on the world with his pace and silky dribbling. However, what we have seen a lot of recently is a winger that looks lost on the pitch, one that takes too long on the ball and one that makes terrible decisions.

Chamberlain obviously has the potential to be one of the best players in England  one day, but with him seeing little game time in a packed Arsenal team who can’t afford to test out players in a new system halfway through the season, what should Arsene Wenger do with Chamberlain?

A loan move?


The most obvious answer to this question is to send Chamberlain out on loan for a season. But again this raises more questions, where will he go? Will he stay in England? Will he play regular football?

Wenger would ideally want to send Chamberlain out to a side in the Premier League, however, if this does happen, we could see a similar case we have seen with Serge Gnabry. The German was sent on loan to West Brom for the season in the summer but the winger had to be recalled back to Arsenal because he simply wasn’t playing games under Tony Pullis.

If Chamberlain was to go to a Premier League side further down the table, such as a Swansea or a Bournemouth, the Ox will gain valuable first team experience and can come back to Arsenal as a better player.

Play him and stick with him

Another idea Wenger could consider for Chamberlain is to simply play him in the starting XI when he is fully fit. However, this brings a problem I have already mentioned. With Arsenal mounting a serious title challenge and having more players coming back from injury, Chamberlain will simply not get in the first team.

With Joel Campbell surprisingly making the right midfield position his own since coming in to the side, and Alexis Sanchez only just returning to the squad, Chamberlain is realistically only going to be a third choice right midfielder behind Campbell and Theo Walcott.

However, what Chamberlain has over his team-mates is his diversity in where he can play on the pitch. We have seen Chamberlain play on the right, left, as an attacking midfielder and even a defensive midfielder, and surprisingly his best performances in an Arsenal shirt have been in the middle of the park.

Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla are already out injured, leaving Aaron Ramsey and the ever-unpopular Mathieu Flamini to cover the hole in Arsenal’s midfield, which is why replacing Flamini with Chamberlain could be a masterstroke of a move for Wenger.

Chamberlain is a frustrating player at times but, at only 22-years-old, it’s clear that the Ox is only just getting started in what could be an illustrious career for the winger.

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About the author
Dylan Walsh
Student at the University of Brighton, 20-years-old, Twitter: @dylanwalsh_