As Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gets set to swap Arsenal for Chelsea, what happened to the British core Arsene Wenger had such high hopes for?

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Unrest was growing around the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal were struggling to compete at the top-end of the Premier League table and doubts surrounded the ability of Arsene Wenger to re-energise the club.

Sound familiar? It is a scene that has played out for much of the last decade at the north London club.

In December 2012 the Frenchman thought he had found the answer. In a picture widely circulated at the time, he stood beaming behind a quintet of talent he hoped would define the club's future.

Arsene Wenger stands behind (L-R) Carl Jenkinson, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as they sign new deals in December 2012

They were known as 'the British core', with each of the five penning a new long-term deal to tie down their best years to Arsenal.

The future looked bright and set to turnaround the club's fortunes after a trophy-drought that was about to enter its eighth year.

Five years and three FA Cups later the investment has not been the unilateral success Wenger had banked on.

Only one can be considered a success, with another on the verge of being sold to a rival, and the other three becoming squad-fillers. 

Sportsmail take a look at how the British core have fared...

The calls for Wenger to be sacked as Arsenal manager have again intensified

Carl Jenkinson

Plucked from the Charlton academy in the summer of 2011, hopes were high for this young right back.

But after just 62 largely error-ridden appearances for the first-team, Jenkinson has just embarked on his third loan spell away from the club.

It is hard not to let out a wry smile with the news that Jenkinson suffered a dislocated shoulder on his debut for Birmingham.

It seems fitting for the 25-year-old, whose career has nose-dived since the early promise and looks set to leave with little fanfare with the club struggling to find a buyer.

Carl Jenkinson suffered a dislocated shoulder on his debut for Birmingham

Aaron Ramsey

Two FA Cup final winning goals will forever give Aaron Ramsey his place in Arsenal history.

The Welshman is the only one of the five who can even be determined a relative success. But into his 10th season at the club, Ramsey has not delivered on his youthful promise on a consistent basis.

The sickening broken leg injury suffered at Stoke in 2010 delayed his progress. After joining as a pacey teenage winger from Cardiff, Ramsey developed into more of a central attacking midfielder.

In 2013-14 he was named the club's Player of the Year. A return of 16 goals in 34 appearances hinted at a breakthrough year, and the unlocking of his vast potential.

It is fair to say, though, that in club colours he has not kicked on, despite being a key performer for an overachieving Wales side at Euro 2016.

Constant injury setbacks have disrupted his progress, so too the lack of a defined role at club level. With Wales he is the link between midfield and attack, at Arsenal he is just another given licence to roam with little responsibility. 

Aaron Ramsey was withdrawn at half-time in Arsenal's 4-0 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday

Jack Wilshere

Sitting front and centre of the picture, there is no mistake that Jack Wilshere was the central pivot of the British core.

The great hope of both club and country, the young midfielder was fighting fit once again after an injury-ravaged 2011-12 season.

But ever since that first major injury, Wilshere has not been the same player who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Xavi and Andres Iniesta at the Nou Camp in the Champions League.

Injury has defined him. His loan spell at Bournemouth last year was only the second time in his career he had featured in more than 25 Premier League games.

In the three seasons prior to his temporary move to the Vitality Stadium, he had made just 19 league appearances.

The 25-year-old does not currently fit into Wenger's first-team plans, and was recently sent off in an appearance for the Under 23s.

An England recall still seems a distant prospect, so too the possibility of a new contract to extend his stay with the Gunners beyond the end of this season. 

Jack Wilshere is fighting for his place in the Arsenal first-team this season

Kieran Gibbs

The loss of Gael Clichy to Manchester City in 2011 was viewed as little more than a minor setback by Wenger.

In Kieran Gibbs the Arsenal boss felt he had a ready-made replacement to become the new first-choice.

His initial judgement proved astute. Gibbs provided the energy and pace demanded by the position.

Injuries — a constant theme here — prevented Gibbs from nailing down the spot. The signing of Nacho Monreal in January 2013 eventually relegated the England international to second-choice.

The 27-year-old has been little more than a bit-part player in recent seasons and could leave before the end of the window this week.

Kieran Gibbs has been little more than a bit-part player at Arsenal in recent seasons

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

The capture of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the summer of 2011 was seen a huge coup for Arsenal.

Wenger lavished £12m on an 18-year-old with enormous potential, a more muscular proposition than the last teenager they had acquired from Southampton — Theo Walcott.

The early promise of his debut season earned him an England call-up at Euro 2012 and hinted at a bright future. He was direct and dynamic with the ball, with searing pace to boot.

But, as ever, injuries have prevented Oxlade-Chamberlain from delivering on that potential thus far.

A return of only nine goals in 132 Premier League appearances is way down on expectations, but at 24 he is still well primed to develop further.

That he sees that next step up as away from Arsenal is damning for Wenger and his inability to extract the potential of his British core.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to swap Arsenal for Chelsea in a £35million deal this week

And what about Theo Walcott?

If the 'British core' were imagined as Arsenal's future heartbeat, Theo Walcott was meant to spearhead it.

The 28-year-old is perhaps the most emblematic of Wenger's failure to bring the best out of this home-grown talent.

Eleven years into his time in north London, yet the England forward still feels little more than a squad player.

Walcott has, at times, looked irresistible when in form. The problem is those times have been few and far between.

He has yet to play for Arsenal this season, and ended the last campaign on a downward curve after an excellent spell of form in the autumn.

Walcott will turn 29 later this season, and it has become a case of now or never on whether he will ever fully justify the hype his early career brought.

Theo Walcott has yet to feature for Arsenal in the first three games of this season