Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has told manager Arsène Wenger that he is not going to sign a new deal, whatever the financial offer, according to reports.
According to the Mirror, Arsenal are set to hold more talks with the Ox this week, after he has turned down two offers from the club, one of which was over £125,000.
Reportedly the English international has told Wenger face-to-face that it’s not about the money and that he just won’t sign a new contract.
Earning over £125,000 would make Oxlade-Chamberlain one of the highest paid players at the club, only behind Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez according to figures compiled by Total Sportek.
The 24-year-old isn’t in the strongest bargaining position at the moment, however, as his performances in Arsenal’s opening games haven’t been the most promising. This is partially due to the fact that he’s been filling in at various positions, but he’s also picked up some bad habits of late.
One of these is an increasing number of random potshots. Football fans love to talk about how players should just ‘have a crack’, but the reality is that when you take nine shots in two games as Oxlade-Chamberlain has, and only two of the nine force the goalkeeper into a save, you’re just wasting opportunities.
Coupled with this, only four of his 15 crosses in the first two games have reached their target. Stats like these make the Ox start to look very ineffective. This is all a far cry from the good performances he was starting to put in consistently in the 2016/17 campaign.
The England international needs to sort himself out off the pitch and then focus on improving on it. In Ox’s case, August 31 and the closure it brings can’t come quickly enough.