Arsenal face a busy week heading into the finale of the transfer window and major pieces of business could go ahead, ranging from players leaving, coming in and extending their deals in North London.
The Gunners have a lot of different questions floating around their side heading into the new campaign, which has risen since the defeat to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon, and one of the biggest concerns has orientated around the futures of key-players.
Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are amongst the stars with less than 12 months remaining on their contracts and Arsenal face a fight to get the trio to extend their deals. However, it seems progress could be made on the latter’s position.
Sky Sports are amongst many outlets reporting that the England international is set to meet with the club this week to discuss his future, with it stated that a meeting is set to take place tomorrow (Thursday) as Arsenal look to resolve the situation before the closing days of the transfer window.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has been heavily linked with an exit from the Emirates Stadium this summer, with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool interested in his services, but Arsenal have made it clear that they do not intend to sell- especially to a Premier League rival.
The difficulty is that the Gunners risk losing Oxlade-Chamberlain on a free transfer next summer if a deal is not reached regarding a new contract, which could see Arsene Wenger’s side miss out on a windfall that’s likely to be in excess of £30m.
Oxlade-Chamberlain made huge progress towards the back-end of last season, shining in a full-back role and displaying his versatility, and he’s continued to be a key-part of Arsenal’s set up at the start of the new season.
However, that makes Oxlade-Chamberlain’s bargaining position all the more stronger and reports state he’s demanding a fresh deal worth £125k-a-week; which is reportedly higher than captain Per Mertesacker, top defenders Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi.
In fact, it would make Oxlade-Chamberlain one of the highest earners at the Emirates Stadium and many fans are concerned as to whether he truly deserves such a high price after years of struggling to make a lasting impression in North London.