Alex “Ox” Oxlade-Chamberlain was brought from Arsenal to Liverpool in 2017, thundering on in his debut season, but had to see his final seasons at Anfield ruined by injuries. In the summer of 2023, Liverpool let the midfielder’s contract expire, the way forward came in Turkish football. Here the Englishman is again in a squeeze.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst did not include the former Liverpool player in his plans for the 2024/25 season. With no playing time in the friendly matches, the Dutchman sent a clear signal to the midfielder. According to The Athletic, both the player and Besiktas worked for a return to England last summer, either on loan or permanently, but “Ox” stayed. Now the 31-year-old has been part of the upturn with Solskjaer as Besiktas coach, but as soon as the results are not forthcoming, the finger is again pointed at Oxlade-Chamberlain, the club’s 3rd highest paid player.
After the bitter loss to the bottom team at the weekend, Solskjaer went out and apologized to the Besiktas supporters. He had never experienced anything like it. The reactions after the game are not against Solskjaer, but against the players, especially Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ciro Immobile.
“Besiktas needed replacements before Solskjaer came in. In the beginning, he got a lot out of the players he has, but now we see that replacements are needed. An example is players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ciro Immobile,” says journalist Karataş.
“Players like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Immobile and Joao Mario should be banned from the squad. I can’t think of any other solution, writes Sinan Vardar at Fotomac.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has a contract until the summer of 2026, but it is in the cards that the 31-year-old will leave as early as this summer. In January, Sport Witness claimed Solskjaer had already given the signal he wanted the club to sell the former Liverpool player with Premier League and Champions League titles on his CV.
