FRESH NEW PASTURES EXCITE OX
Alex hungry for more success
Now the Liverpool midfielder is ready for a new challenge – and remains as ambitious as ever to land more trophies.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is still only 29. He is fit and his enthusiasm is infectious.
The player with 35 England caps is a free agent this summer and will offer any dressing room a terrific character along with his ability.
He said: “I still want success, I’ve had a taste of it here, they’ve been the best years ever. So I can have another sniff of achieving anything like that again, then I’d bite your hand off.
“I need to go and play somewhere as consistently as possible. They say you’re coming into your peak at 29, so I want to test myself.
“I’m still hungry, I still feel I have a lot of games left in me.
“I don’t like to say I have a point to prove but that’s always been my attitude. To show what I’m capable of still doing.”
He joined Liverpool from Arsenal in the summer of 2017 for £35million because it was the chance to push himself and his career to the next level.
Despite injuries, he earned Premier League, League Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup winner’s medals.
He said: “It’s gone quickly. There were spells when I felt I was playing the best I’ve ever played and in the position I’ve always wanted to play, in midfield. That’s what made it feel more special because that was the reason I came.
“Winning the Premier League was special. It’s a shame we lifted the trophy during Covid because it would have been insane with the fans there.
“The first season was the year we realised we could achieve something special. We were winning games 4-0, 5-0, Mo Salah couldn’t stop scoring and Hendo [Jordan Henderson] gave us the belief we could win any game.
“The second season was when you saw a big jump up, when we just missed out on the league that year by one point, and that was when the team felt unstoppable.
“We had some tough times, we lost Virgil van Dijk, Joey G [Gomez], we had to dig in and fight for a Champions League place. It’s not always been plain sailing.
“That’s why it’s harder to say goodbye when you’ve been through so much together.
“But this is going to be an exciting time for me. It’s a new experience so there’s a bit of uncertainty, but it is still exciting.
“The only thing I can focus on is expecting something to come up and be ready to seize that opportunity when it comes. That’s the thing I’m focusing on, focusing on staying fit, being ready and seeing who still fancies a bit of the Ox!”