Publications
Partners
Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says it wasn't an easy decision to leave Arsenal.
The England international left the Gunners to join the Reds for £35 million in 2017 and has been rewarded with winner’s medals in the Champions League, Club World Cup and Super Cup, as well as the enduring love of Jurgen Klopp.
But the player insists the motivating factor behind departing Arsenal was not to win trophies at Anfield, but to have more opportunities to play in central midfield.
"I wouldn’t say I wanted to leave Arsenal because I didn't believe we could win," Oxlade-Chamberlain said.
"I just didn’t believe I was going to be able to play where I wanted to play and that was it.
"Me winning the Champions League was obviously a dream come true and a massive bonus but I didn’t feel like 'Ah, I told you so' [at Arsenal].
"It was a big decision for me to leave a club like Arsenal. It was everything I knew at the top level for seven years. When you’ve been at a club like that for seven years...it's a club where you love being and it's more than just a football club, it’s a family culture.
"When I had to make the decision to leave, it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make and to be honest there was a part of me that didn’t know if it was the right thing.
"I feel a lot of my best performances for Arsenal came in midfield but I never played consistently in that position.
"The first game of that season I switched with Hector [Bellerin]. First game I played on the left, he played on the right and second game we switched.
"I thought 'I've got to take the risk, I've got to take the chance. I don’t want to look back at the end and think I didn’t try.'"
- TEAMtalk media
