Why Oxlade Chamberlain Has To Leave Arsenal And Rejoin Southampton In The Summer.

With transfer rumours that Southampton is planning to make a £15m offer to Arsenal for attacking midfielder Alex  Oxlade Chamberlain, which represents the same fee Arsenal paid  Southampton for the them 18 year-old in 2011.

Chamberlain has not really improved since leaving the South Coast for North London five years ago. After spending five years in London, it is safe to say that his future lies elsewhere judging from his form in the past seasons. With the likes of Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey waiting to play in the wings while Santi Cazorla, Danny Welbeck and Alexeis Sanchez are all better suited to play behind the main striker, it then means Chamberlain might be surplus to requirements next season  at the Emirates.

While not going too far, it is important that Chamberlain learns from no one but Walcott himself who has regressed since his famous move to Arsenal from Southampton in 2006 at the tender age of 17. Then Walcott even made the 2006 World Cup tournament in Germany with the Three Lions and was even compared with the Great Pele. Known for his electrifying pace and sprints , Walcott was a youngster billed for stardom. Fast forward to 2016 and the winger is off form for both club and country and is on verge of missing out in the European Championship in the summer in France.

Though Southampton do not boast the same global appeal as Arsenal, they have something Arsenal might not offer Chamberlain and that is regular first team football at the very top level. At 24, Chamberlain should have been through with learning the basics of the game and can no longer be termed a youngster . Ronald Koeman on his own has done a perfect job at the South Coast since taking over from Argentine Mauricio Porchetino. With the likes of Tadic, Wayama, Pelle, Long and Ward-Prowse, he has built a team that has finished in the top half of the table and almost close to European places. With the addition of Chamberlain on the wins giving consistent performances then Southampton would surely trouble the top teams next season.

At Arsenal, Chamberlain has never gone pass the round of 16 in the Champions League and have never lifted the Premier League, going  close on every occasion. It is only the two FA Cup trophies of last season and the season before that the team has won in the last 11 years. Chamberlain must choose between being an integral and undisputed  member of a team and being a bench warmer. At 24, he still has ample chance to join a bigger team or even the best teams in the world if he improves drastically . It is now or never for the boy who left Southampton when they were in League One after scoring nine goals in 34 games .