Arsenal have completed the signing of 17-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton today (Monday) for an undisclosed fee (although suggestions are that we have paid close to £12million). The signing of Chamberlain has already been met by mixed reactions from Arsenal fans. Some are glad that we have made another signing whilst some believe that this is not the kind of signing Arsenal should be making and Wenger has only signed the winger because he is under pressure to make signings this summer.
Whatever the reason is that Wenger has signed Chamberlain, the fact is that he is now an Arsenal player and we have to support him as best as we can. It will not be easy for a 17-year-old to make such a big step into the Premier League but the beauty is, he has joined a team which gives its young players a lot of opportunities to prove themselves and he has Theo Walcott nect to him who made the exact same move from Southampton to Arsenal and he can learn a lot from him.
The big question now is, will Chamberlain start for Arsenal this season or we have signed him as ‘one for the future’? Chamberalin can play on either wings or just behind the striker, positions which we have many experienced options at Arsenal so chances are that Chamberlain will not walk straight into the first team. Not many 17-year-olds have been able to walk into the starting lineups of Premier League clubs and I do not expect Chamberlain to do so If I were Wenger, I would actually loan Chamberlain out to a Premier League team this season so he can get used to the Premier League. He will not get much game time this season at Arsenal in my opinion.