Chelsea have been in the market for wing-backs since the start of their window. And their latest target is Alex Oxlade Chamberlain from just across London.
Chelsea have ramped up their interest in the former Southampton youngster and are said to be ready to make an offer of up to £35 million.
Antonio Conte is determined to reinforce his Chelsea side as they prepare to defend their title as the Blues get back to playing Champions League football.
But up until now, Arsenal have rejected a few initial advances made for the player and it remains to be seen how they will react when a concrete offer is tabled.
The 23-year-old has just one year left on his current contract at Arsenal and talks about renewing it has been sparse. Arsenal would want to keep hold of their man but his contract situation puts them in a precarious position of either letting him go for nothing next season or listening to offers for him this season.
While Arsenal have been adamant to keep hold of Alexis Sanchez, they are yet to discuss the uncertain future of The Ox. The English International is said to be unhappy at being pushed onto the left flank in the current system which mirrors Chelsea’s 3-4-3 and could tilt the situation in Chelsea’s favour.
Chelsea’s Italian boss believes that Chamberlain possesses the necessary qualities to excel in the role of a wing-back and is determined to make him fulfill the ever promising potential.
After achieving success in transforming a midfielder Victor Moses into a more than adept wing-back, Conte believes he can achieve similar success with the Arsenal youngster.
Alex is extremely versatile and over his young career has been deployed in various positions starting from winger to centre midfield and now as a wing-back. Without being too flashy, Oxlade Chamberlain has continued to impress pundits as well as develop his qualities as an elite level footballer.
Here is a comparison between The Ox and Moses. Oxlade played 900 minutes lesser than Moses so the comparison is based on per 90 metrics.
| Stat | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Victor Moses |
| Key passes | 1.37 | 0.87 |
| Assists | 0.40 | 0.07 |
| Chances created | 1.77 | 0.94 |
| Goals scored | 0.11 | 0.11 |
| Shot accuracy | 44% | 56% |
| Successful Take-ons | 3.55 | 1.91 |
| Interceptions | 0.57 | 1.55 |
| Tackles won | 1.83 | 1.44 |
| Aerial Duels won | 34.88% | 35.23% |
| Clearances | 2.00 | 2.31 |
In terms of attacking output, Oxlade completely overshadows the Nigerian providing more key passes and directly proportional to it more assists. His threat in the final third can be only confirmed with the help of the above numbers. He also boasts of a high number of successful take-ons. The only visible area where Moses is better is the interceptions but then we all the magic Conte worked on him and one will not bet against him converting the Englishman into a world class full-back if he arrives at The Bridge.
