Alan Hutton believes Steven Gerrard would jump at the chance to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain if given the opportunity to this summer.
The English midfielder has not been able to break into Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI this season and while he’s a very talented player, it just hasn’t clicked for him at Anfield.
He joined Liverpool for £35million in 2018, swapping London for Merseyside and leaving Arsenal behind in what was a high profile move at the time, signing a £125,000/week contract.
It signalled the Reds leaving the Gunners behind after watching them beat them to Champions League football for several years and Chamberlain starred in the competition before his dreadful ACL injury against AS Roma in the semi-finals in 2018.
His absence was felt keenly in the final in Kiev when Real Madrid beat them 3-1.
It’s not spoken of much but Klopp missed his energetic and dynamic presence as he was forced to line up with Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner and Jordan Henderson.
Fast forward to 2022 and he will once again miss out on starting in a European cup final against Madrid albeit for a different reason.
The 28-year-old simply isn’t good enough to force Klopp to leave one of Thiago, Fabinho, Naby Keita or Jordan Henderson on the bench to include him.
In fact, he wasn’t even selected to play against Southampton on Tuesday. A game which saw Klopp make 9 changes and start 36-year-old James Milner ahead of him.
19-year-old Harvey Elliott and 21-year-old Curtis Jones were preferred ahead of him – a sign that his Liverpool career has passed him by.
Yet, as doom and gloomy as that may sound, he’s still got the potential to star for another Premier League team and West Ham have been linked with a move to sign him which would see Jarrod Bowen head the other way.
Aston Villa, with Steven Gerrard at the helm, have been linked with a move to sign Chamberlain and it could be a great chance to reignite his career and potentially earn a place in England’s 2022 World Cup squad ahead of FIFA’s showpiece in Qatar.
It would also give him a chance to play and learn from his idol while providing quality and experience to an ambitious club.
Alan Hutton, former Villa star, believes Steven Gerrard would jump at the chance to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 2022 summer transfer window.
He said: “Aston Villa are building for the future. They’re building something special as well and why would you not want to be part of that?
“He could be an integral cog for one of these teams moving forward. He’s still got a lot to give, plenty of time. The only question mark is the injuries.
“That can happen with all the stop-start, it’s difficult to get a run going. any of those teams we’ve mentioned I think would jump at the chance of bringing someone of his quality through the door.”