Stoke deny Oxlade-Chamberlain interest

Despite yesterday’s rumours of Stoke signing Arsenal wide-man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, club sources have today said they are not interested in signing the Gunner.

The England wide-man’s agent Aidy Ward was spotted yesterday at Stoke’s Clayton Wood training ground, which sparked off rumours of Stoke making a move for the unsettled Arsenal player, but this rumour has been put to bed within hours of the supposed interest being written by the SunSport.

His Agent Aidy Ward was once one of the most vilified men in football as he was responsible for seeing through the Raheem Sterling move from Anfield to the Etihad Stadium two seasons ago, but he would be the man responsible in pushing through Oxlade-Chamberlain’s transfer away from the Emirates Stadium.

Time will tell if this happens, but many people expect Oxlade-Chamberlain to leave Arsenal this summer as the rumours won’t go away, and as well as being linked with Stoke yesterday, he has already been linked with Premiership champions Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool over recent weeks.

The question asked yesterday by many is…. would Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain really want to join Stoke?

Well, the chance of playing week in, week out, must be of some interest to him, especially with the 2018 World Cup happening in 12 months’ time, enough motivation surely for him to know that if he is playing regularly, he is more likely to be a contender for a place in Gareth Southgate’s England Starting 11?

What also could sway him is the fact that his Dad Mark Chamberlain played for Stoke from 1982 – 1985, making over 100 appearances for them and at the time when the Potters struggled somewhat, he was loved by the fans and is still held in high regard now, something which considering he began his career at local rivals, Port Vale, is something to feel very proud of.

Mark Chamberlain was a pacey winger, with good trickery and a style that entertained Potters fans. His style is somewhat like Son Alex’s Oxlade-Chamberlain current way of playing, and after impressing as a wing-back in Arsenal’s run-in last season, you can see him being a great signing for Stoke, especially after they last week sold winger Marko Arnautovic to West Ham last week for £25 million.

Manager Mark Hughes has said that Stoke will be looking for a replacement for Marko, and as money shouldn’t be an issue, would a similar fee be enough to tempt Arsene Wenger into selling Oxlade-Chamberlain?

Well, at the end of last season the Arsenal Manager admitted that he was surprised to hear of reports claiming that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was unhappy at Arsenal and weighing up his next move, especially after playing more so in the last few games, although mainly as a ‘wing-back’.

Wenger had said: “I haven’t seen that [he is unhappy]. I’m surprised by that because I believe that he has been developed well, he is developing well at the moment and he has been given his chance. When you are somewhere, you have to want to be there first.

“After that, the only thing I can say is that personally I rate him highly. I showed that in the way I keep faith in him when he spent long times out injured. He’s developing very well at the moment.

“I personally wish that he stays at the club, because I think he’s a very promising player who has developed very well and who looks to me to have the values that we rate at this club.”

No-one is too sure what is preventing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in signing a new contract, or if a new contract is even on the table, but the stand-off isn’t supposedly down to the England international requesting silly amounts of money.

Could it be down to the Alexis Sanchez situation?  What has that got to do with it I hear you say? Well, Arsenal’s wage bill is expected to rise significantly if the club strike a new deal with Sanchez, as well as German International Mesut Ozil. If this does happen, the Gunners may be forced to sell players such as Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud amidst a growing pressure to cut their wage bill – new Premier League rules state that clubs’ salary expenditure should not be more than £7m than it was last year.

The signing of 23-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would be a real coup for the Potters, especially as they have seen more players leave The Britannia Stadium than they have seen come in. Manager Mark Hughes has realised he must get the age of his squad down which has led to the likes of Glenn Whelan, Shay Given, Phil Bardsley and Jon Walters all leaving the club.

Fans of the Potters will be disappointed today that the Oxlade-Chamberlain rumours have been dismissed, but with over £30 million coming into the club through players sold, they will be expecting signings to be made, and with Manager Mark Hughes admitting that they are looking to bring in more players, perhaps this is one to keep an eye out on.

Daniel Scattergood