Arsenal are reportedly stalling over a new contract for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after failing to sell him this summer.

According to The Independent, we were open to selling him this summer but he wanted to stay and fight for a place, so we’re biding our time over offering him a new deal.

The 23-year-old signed for us five years ago and is contracted with us until 2018. However, his progress has stalled due to a mixture of injury woes and lack of playing time, which both feed into each other.

As exciting as he can be in 10-second bursts, the majority of the time he’s wasteful and naive. This seems to be made even worse by the fact that we all know he’s so much better than what he’s presenting. But how long can we keep saying ‘give him a chance’?

I doubt we’ll see the Ox offered another deal at the club and I would be surprised to see him with us next season, although I’m willing to be wrong. It’s a shame but I don’t see any other option unless he can drastically turn things around. I hope he can.