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Did Jurgen Klopp just take a sly dig at Arsenal with his latest comments on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain?

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By Rohan Sengupta

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has aimed a cheeky dig at Arsenal after telling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to be greedier when it comes to scoring in games.

The England international joined Liverpool from Arsenal at the start of the season in a £35m deal as his contract ran down in North London.

At Arsenal, Chamberlain was often accused of not fulfilling his potential and everyone thought his career was heading towards stagnation.

But since joining the Reds last summer, although he struggled to find his feet earlier, the 24-year-old looks to be a real deal under Klopp. He has already contributed four goals and five assists to the Liverpool cause this season and was named Man of the match for his outstanding work in midfield in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United last Saturday.

But Klopp believes Chamberlain has plenty of room for improvement after stalling at Arsenal and wants to see the midfielder be more selfish and ruthless in attack.

“We bought the player we saw at Arsenal, but we thought they could be few more steps in his development,” Klopp was quoted by the Daily Star.

“He’s already taken some, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still a young boy, he can be much more consistent and much more of a threat.

“He doesn’t feel a greed for scoring, like Mohamed Salah, but we will work on that. He’s a very important player for us.”

It is true Chamberlain is very selfless and for the second game in a row has supplied an assist for Mohamed Salah. But the former Southampton player praised his team-mates rather than focusing on himself after the win over Newcastle.

“When you break the line it’s about running and creating things. Luckily I could do that with Mo Salah in the first half,” Chamberlain was quoted by the Metro.

“It is frightening. It has been a great season for Mo. He has kept going, kept pushing on and the goals keep coming.

“You could see he was disappointed not to get another at the end. Hopefully, they can keep it going.”

This week is a significant one for the Reds as they first host FC Porto in the second leg of Champions League last 16 tie midweek before heading to Old Trafford to face rivals Manchester United on Saturday in the Premier League.

Chamberlain has been a different player since Klopp moved him to the midfield and our gaffer would expect his rising star to deliver the goods against Porto and United this week.