Regardless of Arsene Wenger’s firm stance on the decision that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would not be leaving Emirates this summer, the Frenchman could not stop him from leaving the club for Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Towards the end of last season Wenger said as quoted by Givemesport:

“I want Oxlade-Chamberlain to be part of Arsenal Football Club for the next ten years, I expect him to stay, 100%. No matter the speculation, he will stay.”

There were plenty of rumors about Oxlade-Chamberlain’s future as he edged closer towards the last 12 months on his contract at Emirates, with Wenger being keen to offer him a contract to stay with the Gunners. In fact he presented an offer to Chamberlain thought to be in the region of £180,000-per-week to keep him at the club but most people think he always wanted to leave as he wasn’t getting enough playing time (wonder why?).

Anyway, according to a reliable BBC sports reporter David Ornstein, Wenger really wasn’t happy about ‘The Ox’ leaving the club:

“He [Wenger] was stunned and bitterly disappointed when Oxlade-Chamberlain rejected the club’s final contract offer (an enormous pay rise that would have earned him close to £180,000-per-week if Arsenal made it back into the Champions League) and I’m told Wenger did not hold back when Oxlade-Chamberlain told him face-to-face that he wanted to move on.”

To show how desperate the England International was to leave the club, Oxlade-Chamberlain joined the Merseysiders in a £35 million deal which will now see him earn around £125,000-per-week at Anfield, around £60,000 a week less than the Arsenal offer.

Following yet another disappointing set of performances for England this week, the 24-year-old will definitely not be receiving a warm reception when he returns to the Emirates Stadium with his Liverpool side in December after a career at Arsenal which often promised so much, but in reality delivered very little.