Jurgen Klopp has assembled a fantastic squad and it appears as though one of the biggest losers in his current roster is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
As reported by The Mail: ‘Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fears for his Liverpool future after going two months without playing and not hearing from the club about a new contract.
‘Oxlade-Chamberlain, 28, hasn’t been picked by Jurgen Klopp since an FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest on March 20 despite being fit and available.
‘With only a year remaining on his current Anfield deal, the England midfielder is yet to be approached about a renewal and appears to be slipping down the pecking order with Naby Keita and Curtis Jones preferred in recent weeks’.
There is a perception that our No.15 is heavily injury prone, despite not missing a single match through injury this season and not missing a game since December 2020 for fitness reasons.
The 28-year-old has five goal involvements in 29 games this season but when his minutes (1,526) are taken into account, he’s averaging a goal involvement every 3.3 games.
Possibly the most similar players in the squad to the former Arsenal man are Thiago Alcantara (1 goal involvement every 3.7 games), James Milner (1 in 4.3), Naby Keita (1 in 3.2), Jordan Henderson (1 in 4.2) and Curtis Jones (1 in 3.7) – so his numbers are the second best in terms of going forward.
This isn’t necessarily a call to say others should be dropped but more to show that the England international is a much more valuable member of the squad than seems to be perceived by many of our supporters.
For him to have played in just one Premier League game since the 23rd of January, no minutes at all since Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup and his last full 90 minutes coming in February against Norwich City in the FA Cup – it does all seem a little unfair.
He hasn’t been in a Premier League match day squad since we beat Watford in February (unused sub) and hasn’t played a minute of knockout football in the Champions League either.
With reports linking us to Aurelien Tchouameni and Fabio Carvalho set to arrive in the summer, how can the Portsmouth-born midfielder resurrect his career on Merseyside?
It’s going to be a tough summer for him and he will have to choose to stay and fight in the final year of his contract, let it wind down without game time or look for a move elsewhere.