Former Liverpool and Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has reflected on his career after returning to train with the Gunners as he attempts to find a new club
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during his time with Arsenal(Image: Getty Images)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has explained that his time at Arsenal was the happiest of his life, despite his glittering spell at Liverpool. The English midfielder represented both Premier League giants earlier in his career.
After progressing through the Southampton academy, he moved to Arsenal in 2011 and went on to make 198 appearances for the north London side, who he helped to three FA Cups. Oxlade-Chamberlain then moved to Liverpool in 2017 for £35million.
He enjoyed huge success at Anfield, where he won the Premier League, Champions League, the League Cup and the Club World Cup. Speaking on the Fozcast, the now 32-year-old has explained that his time at Arsenal was better personally but his Liverpool spell was certainly more enjoyable from a professional viewpoint.
He said: “[On the time he most enjoyed his football] I was happiest in a sense of life, at Arsenal. I had a lot of friends – I had a lot of mates from back home who were at university, didn’t have kids, didn’t have wives, so they were always coming to the games.
“We had a good group of young players at Arsenal – me, Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Emmanuel Eboué, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, Carl Jenkinson – these sort of lads who were all young, doing the same thing, at the same time, and just loving it and having a great time.
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“From a football aspect, a couple of seasons at Liverpool were just unbelievable. I was playing with a group of lads to achieve something special, and when you achieve that something special, you realise, ‘This is what it’s all about’.
“The 18/19 season and then the year we won the league – 19/20 – those were, from a footballing point of view – the best years I’ve had in a group of lads that I saw every day working hard to achieve something – and we did.
“The fans there, everything about that place was just amazing and special. It was the happiest [I was] but I had times at Liverpool where it was the toughest. Especially in the last year, or two, the year I was injured in 2018, and then the last two where, I was fighting to play and then not playing as much.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain departed Besiktas in the summer(Image: Getty Images)
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“From a lifestyle point of view and not thinking too much, Arsenal was unbelievable. An amazing club, a great place to be, great players, and you’re in London – it’s great fun. Then the couple of years at Liverpool was just amazing.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain has actually returned to Arsenal this week after being given the chance to train with his former club to keep up his fitness. He is currently without a club after being released by Besiktas.
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