Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ‘honoured’ to play for Arsenal amid exit talk

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has said it is a “massive honour” to play for Arsenal, amid reports he could be set for an exit from the club at the end of the season.

ESPN FC reported last month that Oxlade-Chamberlain, 23, wants to leave Arsenal this summer, with Liverpool having been linked with a £35 million move for the England international.

However, speaking after Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough on Monday, Oxlade-Chamberlain suggested that he is happy to remain at the Emirates Stadium.

“It’s a massive honour to play for a team like Arsenal,” he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “You’ve got to give it 100 percent week in, week out, and maybe that had been slipping in the last few weeks.

“That was the first thing we needed to get back to and we did that [against Middlesbrough]. The three points were massive.

“It’s a massive club and that’s one thing that as players it’s an honour to play for. To see them [nearly 3,000 Arsenal fans] come all the way up here and support us after a tough time means everything and we need to keep fighting for them.”

Arsenal’s victory over Middlesbrough brought an end to their run of four consecutive Premier League defeats away from home and keeps alive their hopes of a top-four finish.

Arsenal are seven points off fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand over Pep Guardiola’s side.

“What we’ve done previously in the last few games hasn’t been good enough,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said. “We needed to take responsibility for that and we’ve done that this week between ourselves.

“We knew it didn’t matter how we won. We needed to go out there and get back to the basics, and that’s making sure that our commitment levels were right to play for this football club.”