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Cape Town - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says he has never seen any footballer
work as hard as new Arsenal team-mate Alexis Sanchez, and hopes the
"brilliance" of such a player can lead the club to new heights.
The Chile international joined the Gunners from Barcelona for £30 million in the off-season, and has hit the ground running in north London after scoring five goals in his first 12 appearances.
And, Oxlade-Chamberlain admits he has been blown away by the forward's work rate, as well as his technical abilities, highlighted by his stunning free-kick against Southampton in their Capital One Cup defeat earlier this season.
The England international told Arsenal Player: “Alexis is a brilliant player and he does stuff that really does surprise you and you think, ‘how has he got out of that one?’
“And, like against Southampton, he’ll step up and put a free-kick in the top corner. To be fair, I knew he was going to do that because in the warm-up he had four in a row in front of a lot of fans.
“When he stood up to take the free-kick in the game I said to Kieran [Gibbs], ‘this is going in, you should have seen him in the warm-up’, and he put it top corner.
“It’s moments of brilliance like that [which show his quality] but at the same time he works harder than I think I’ve seen anyone work. He is so skilful but he also does the defensive work up front and sets the tone.”
The Chile international joined the Gunners from Barcelona for £30 million in the off-season, and has hit the ground running in north London after scoring five goals in his first 12 appearances.
And, Oxlade-Chamberlain admits he has been blown away by the forward's work rate, as well as his technical abilities, highlighted by his stunning free-kick against Southampton in their Capital One Cup defeat earlier this season.
The England international told Arsenal Player: “Alexis is a brilliant player and he does stuff that really does surprise you and you think, ‘how has he got out of that one?’
“And, like against Southampton, he’ll step up and put a free-kick in the top corner. To be fair, I knew he was going to do that because in the warm-up he had four in a row in front of a lot of fans.
“When he stood up to take the free-kick in the game I said to Kieran [Gibbs], ‘this is going in, you should have seen him in the warm-up’, and he put it top corner.
“It’s moments of brilliance like that [which show his quality] but at the same time he works harder than I think I’ve seen anyone work. He is so skilful but he also does the defensive work up front and sets the tone.”
