Arsenal could be dealt a major blow as they look to keep Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain beyond his current contract according to a Sunday Times report carried by the Daily Star. The report suggests that the England international is willing to see out his final 12 months at the Emirates and then move on a free from the London club.

The Liverpool Echo reports that the Arsenal man has rejected a new contract offer putting Liverpool on red alert over his future.

It is also reported that we made a formal approach for the utility man but that was rejected by the Gunners. It does not look good for Arsenal at the moment as losing out on one of their brightest and young players could be disastrous, especially if he leaves on a free next season.

Rather surprisingly, the Ox also wants to play for us next season and is willing to link up with Jurgen Klopp as the German looks to improve upon his first full season in charge of us. We did finish fourth and the lure of Champions League football would play a huge part in our recruitment policy.

The Englishman also finds linking up with the likes of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho extremely appealing, as we had one of the most exciting attacks in the Premier League last season. And with the addition of Mohamed Salah, that attack will surely get a lot better in the coming campaign.

Where does the Ox play?

Getting the Ox to Anfield might be a bit of a tough ask given our recent history with Arsenal over signings but a bigger issue would be where he would be playing for us.

The Ox needs more game time than what he was getting at the Emirates last season but we already have a pretty tight run ship and it is tough to see how he would fit into the starting XI. There are those who claim that Oxlade-Chamberlain is only moving to get first-team football, something that we cannot guarantee next season.

He did perform very well when deployed as a right wing-back under Arsene Wenger in the second half of last season and that is something that would certainly be explored should hbe join us in the summer.

For now, the turmoil with the Ox and Arsenal is set to continue and there seems to be only one way the deal is heading, the Englishman leaving the side in the summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDBRHOLr34E