The encouraging news around Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues to bubble to the surface, after reports earlier this week that Chelsea believe that Arsenal could be persuaded to sell, maybe around £35m.
UPDATE: Wenger, talking in a press conference this morning, remains adamant that he’s not selling. So nothing new there..
"Yes. I rate him highly, he is one of the players who is on his way up and has made huge progress. Personally, I want him to stay here for a long time."
But what does everybody else involved want?
The £35m figure makes an appearance in a report yesterday from Nizaar Kinsella of Goal, who also puts a number of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s potential wages. And it’s no small amount, which is unsurprising given Arsenal’s reluctance to offer it to him (and thus creating this impasse): £150k per week, more than doubling his current wages.
Revealed: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's wage demands as Chelsea target deal: https://t.co/DILeJGbK1g pic.twitter.com/tMvbMJyWkp
— Goal UK (@GoalUK) August 15, 2017
In Chelsea terms, £150k would put Ox below the top-tier earners such as Eden Hazard and Cesc Fàbregas (and Thibaut Courtois, if and when he does finally sign his new deal — presumably these have now all been shelved until after the summer so that we can concentrate on transfers). Diego Costa used to earn that much, but he’s getting that same amount in fines these days. Álvaro Morata is also around this level, while many other first-team regulars are close.
So, would Oxlade-Chamberlain, probably not a nailed-on starter, but certainly at the top of the rotation, be worth that much? At this point, you bet he is!
Get it done.