Oxlade-Chamberlain on his Arsenal departure

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opened up on his Arsenal departure in 2017. The England international says that it was the hardest decision he has ever made so far in his life.

The 26-year-old Englishman left the Gunners back in 2017 and joined Liverpool for a transfer fee of £40 million. Oxlade-Chamberlain insists that he did not left Arsenal because they were not winning trophies and he felt very uncertain at the time if leaving them was the right move.

Apparently, it turned out to be the right decision as the Merseyside team won the Champions League last season and are now very close to be crowned Premier League champions.

On the other side, the Gunners have not managed to finish in the top four position since 2016 and this year they are even far from the top five.

Oxlade-Chamberlain spoke about his move to Merseyside with Arsenal legend Ian Wright: “I wouldn’t say I wanted to leave Arsenal because I didn’t believe we could win.

“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].”

When Oxlade-Chamberlain was at Arsenal he was usually playing as a wing-back, which is not his preferred position. The 26-year-old prefers to play in the midfield area, where he usually plays for Liverpool.

Not playing at the position, he wanted to play, and Liverpool's promise that he will be used more as a midfielder lured him to Anfield.

“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,” said the 26-year-old payer.

“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.

“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.'”