Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to extend his Liverpool deal by 12 months and you do have to wonder – how does he do it given his injury history?

I like the Ox. Unlike many players who live in a bubble, he always goes out of his way to engage with fans and has a genuine interest in the history of the clubs he plays for.

This question isn’t bitter lemons, I’m genuinely curious.

The 25-year-old signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2017 for £34.2m. Since then he’s played just 44 games for them, scoring five and assisting eight. He’s totalled 2,067 minutes in the last two seasons, an average of 47 minutes per game played.

During that time he’s suffered what is his fifth serious knee injury. On top of the latest cruciate problem that kept him out for 239 days/39 games, he then did his hamstring – a common problem after returning from a lengthy injury.

So Liverpool are doing what Arsenal did for so long – handing him new contracts in the hope that he will eventually be able to stay fit and fulfil his promise.

The Ox is still only 25 so time is, just about, on his side, but his history offers no indication that he will put together an injury-free run any time soon.

After he picked up the cruciate injury against Roma in April, 2018, the Ox spoke about how supported he felt by Liverpool and their fans in what many saw as a veiled dig at Arsenal fans.

“I’ve had injuries in the past where it’s been difficult because pressure from fans has been “he’s injured again” or “we can’t trust him he’s always injured,” he said.

“But I’ve got injured here and I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from the fans, which for me I can’t thank them enough and that’s what keeps me going every day to try and reward their patience and support.”

But if the Ox’s memory is good enough, perhaps he could think back to the first injury he suffered at Arsenal and ask himself how much support he got from fans then? I think he’ll find it was quite a lot. It’s easy to be positive when it’s the first injury with a new club.

During the six years he was at Arsenal, the Ox suffered 11 different injuries, ruling him out of a total of 154 games – almost 50%. In his last four seasons at Arsenal, he suffered four serious knee injuries alone that kept him out for 308 days.

Of course, I’d rather see a club stand by an injured player than discard them, but you do have to wonder what sort of decision-making process allow the powers that be at clubs to overlook a track record like this.

The Ox had another three years left on the first deal he signed when he left Arsenal so Liverpool had plenty of time to see how his return to playing went before they needed to take action.