Former Southampton, Arsenal, Liverpool and Besiktas midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is one of only a very few current midfielders with whom West Ham have not been linked this summer, such is the rumour factory as the transfer window nears its climax.
The Ox, now 31, has just departed Turkish side Besiktas under a bit of a cloud and is hoping to make it back to football in England: Most likely he’ll be dropping down to the championship and hearsay suggests several clubs are on notice.
However, apparently Oxlade-Chamberlain deserves a vote of thanks from the Hammers board for his ‘undercover’ role in helping the Hammers hijack Besiktas’ deal for Kyle Walker-Peters, according to a new report out today.
According to the people at insidefutbol.com, the Ox was instrumental in helping Kyle Walker-Peters’ make up his mind about canning the proposed move to Turkey:
“Former Southampton Man ‘Shared Negative Information’, Helping West Ham Land Star” is their article that recounts the full story.
“It appears that former Saint Oxlade-Chamberlain may well have had an influence on Walker-Peters ultimately rejecting Bestikas in favour of West Ham….According to Turkish daily Milliyet (via Ajansspor), Oxlade-Chamberlain ‘shared negative information’ about Besiktas with Walker-Peters.”
The official line put out at the time was that Walker-Peters’ partner didn’t want to go to Turkey.
The reality now appears somewhat different as Oxlade-Chamberlain evidently passed on a few uncomfortable truths about his own time in Turkey which convinced ‘KWP’ to pick up the phone to his agent, sharpish.
Good man!