Could Arsenal selling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain actually be fantastic business?

Oxlade-Chamberlain may not have finished the week by arriving at the new club we all thought he would, based on what we knew at the start of the week, but he has now officially left Arsenal. Oxlade-Chamberlain has signed for Liverpool, instead of Chelsea, which was the rumour to begin with. His move has caused quite a stir amongst Arsenal fans, but is it a good piece of business by the club? Or have they yet again let a player leave and move to their rivals without having a plan?

If you take a look at the numbers Oxlade-Chamberlain has produced while at Arsenal, it isn’t pretty reading for the 24-year-old. His Premier League stats show his goal scoring rate to be very poor, with just nine goals in 132 Premier League appearances for the club; averaging out at one goal every 14 games.

What Arsenal have done is signed a player, seen him disappoint whilst in their team for most of his stay, and make a profit of more than £20 million on him. From a business point of view, looking at this as a standalone deal, Arsenal have done two good pieces of business; firstly for buying him so cheap and secondly for selling him at such a high price.

When Arsenal signed Oxlade-Chamberlain back in August 2011, they had high hopes for him. However, despite turning into a Premier League player, Arsenal fans have always wanted more from him and felt he would turn out to be better than he has done. That is the reason many won’t be too disappointed he has left the club. However, losing a player to your rivals isn’t always about how you will cope without them, it is more often than not about what the player can do to strengthen your rival.

Once Oxlade-Chamberlain has settled in at Liverpool, and Arsenal are playing without him it will be interesting to see how the Premier League odds fluctuate; can Oxlade-Chamberlain help Liverpool seriously mount a title challenge? After a poor start to the season and a poor end to the transfer window, including the loss of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arsenal are out at 24/1 with Betsafe to win the Premier League, much longer than at the start of August. A good start for Liverpool, and some good additions to their squad, has seen them move into just 10/1 to win the league.

There is every chance that Oxlade-Chamberlain will be a great fit for Liverpool: the change of scenery will do him good and the difference in atmosphere will be noticeable for him straight away. He isn’t guaranteed to start every game, but when he does play he will fit into Liverpool’s up-tempo, quick style of play brilliantly. The fans at Liverpool seem excited about his arrival and they have taken to YouTube to put together their favourite Oxlade-Chamberlain moments in support of their new signing.

In conclusion, as a standalone business deal, Arsenal have received a lot of money for a player who has failed to live up to the hype and struggled to score regular goals for them. However, on the field, he is still an exciting prospect and they have let him leave to strengthen one of their Premier League rivals, a team who he looks to be a perfect fit for. Only time will tell if he can really help Liverpool mount a serious title challenge.