Image Credits: Imago Images
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s move to Celtic has the feel of a smart, low-risk gamble for the Scottish champions and a badly needed fresh start for a player whose career has drifted since leaving Liverpool. The 32-year-old had been without a club since Besiktas agreed to terminate his contract in late August, paying a severance package and allowing him to walk away as a free agent after a turbulent spell in Istanbul.
Injuries, constant managerial changes and a lack of stability meant he never truly settled in Turkey, even though he still managed to collect a Turkish Cup winners’ medal during his time there.
Since returning to England, Oxlade-Chamberlain has quietly been keeping himself fit by training with former club Arsenal, waiting for the right opportunity rather than jumping at the first offer that came his way. That chance has finally arrived in Glasgow, where Celtic have brought him in on a short-term contract until the end of the current Scottish Premiership season, with an option to extend the deal by a further 12 months if things go well.
It is a structure that suits everyone: Celtic get an experienced, hungry midfielder without a big transfer fee attached, and Oxlade-Chamberlain gets the platform to prove he can still influence games at a high level.
But the former Red has revealed that a certain Andy Robertson helped him decide on the move to the Scottish giants, alongside former Manchester City ‘keeper Joe Hart:
“I was with Joe Hart a couple of weeks ago at James Milner’s birthday and I asked him about Celtic,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said as quoted by the Celtic Star. “He just said it was the best two or three years of his life and that he absolutely loved it.”
“He actually suggested this could be perfect for me and said ‘you’d love it up there Ox’. This was literally a few weeks ago, before any of this had come up. He raved about it, how much he loved it, how the people treated him, how intense and passionate it is.”
“I’m best mates with Andy Robertson as well so it didn’t take much convincing from him. He told me to get in the car and get up here.”
“I’m really excited – I think the manager must have just caught wind I didn’t have a job. He said he’d love to have me up here so it was quite seamless.”
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