Gunners fans were left with a sour taste in their mouths after the 24-year-old requested a move away from the Emirates following the club’s rocky start to the season.
It took a bumper £40m bid from the Reds to prise the Ox away, despite him entering the final year of his contract.
After the move was confirmed earlier today, football writer Michael Cox published an article suggesting the Ox’s background playing rugby at school might have hindered his technical ability.
“He was already part of Southampton's academy but Oxlade-Chamberlain was also a fine wicketkeeper-batsman at cricket and excelled at rugby,” Cox wrote.
“He turned down trials for both Hampshire and London Irish respectively, to concentrate on his football career, although he remains handy at cricket and rugby.
“He's a ball carrier, who storms into spaces after receiving possession.
“While his crossing has improved, he doesn't offer genuinely top-class end product; he's not fundamentally gifted at the basic art of kicking the ball.
“His scoring record is disappointing -- in six full seasons with Arsenal his highest total in all competitions is six goals -- as he often snatches at chances.
“Oxlade-Chamberlain is a linear footballer, who carries the ball forward and passes it sideways. And this is essentially no different from his rugby-playing style: In a 2012 interview with Arsenal Magazine, he explained that, with the oval ball, he was ‘just the person that got the ball, ran quickly and tried to stay out of the way of any contact’.”
Social media lit up after the article was posted, giving Arsenal fans a chance to take a shot at their former star.
“Now it makes sense,” said one Gooner.
“I’ve been watching him for years and quietly muttering to myself, ‘He's the wrong shape’.”
Another wrote: “This confirms my suspicions. All those balls over the bar.”
