In what’s hopefully the final, final word on anything non-Diego Costa-related from the summer transfer window, here’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain revealing that Chelsea never really had a chance at acquiring his services.
Chelsea were reportedly the main suitors for the former Arsenal man for quite a while, and were close to being the ones shelling out the £35 million for his signature. (Un?)fortunately for us, head coach Antonio Conte apparently scared him away from the Bridge by telling him the truth regarding his future as a right wing-back rather than a central midfielder.
"The first thing was the tough decision to leave Arsenal. That was the only thing that was really tough for me and the deliberation but Liverpool was the only option for me in terms of where I thought I would be playing."
"The team and the feel of the whole football club in general just sat right with me. I think there are really exciting things to come here and especially with this manager so I felt it was right for me to push to be a part of that. I'm delighted that I finally got the opportunity to."
-Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Source: Sky Sports
And so, the Ox will try to do what players better suited for the position, like James Milner failed to do. Good luck with all that...
Just text Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to welcome him to Liverpool but i think he ran out of signal. I hope he hasn't changed his mind. pic.twitter.com/9X26QjXRrt
— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) August 30, 2017