01 June 2023 , 18:22
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Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as he departs Liverpool after six injury-plagued years at Anfield.
The ex-Arsenal man arrived in the red half of Merseyside in the summer of 2017 for a fee of £40million and promised so much, but his inability to put a real run of form together due to persistent injury problems means Oxlade-Chamberlain's time as a Liverpool player has slightly underwhelmed.
Klopp himself admitted as much during his farewell message to the England international, as the Reds boss conceded Oxlade-Chamberlain's constant struggle for full match fitness was a 'shame'. The midfielder made just nine league appearances over the course of last season.
“Ox is a super guy, an absolutely super guy," Klopp explained. "Now with Ox it’s a bigger shame, how it sometimes is with players – he had here super times and now in the end I’m pretty sure he is not 100 per cent happy and I can understand that, definitely."
He went on to recall what was arguably the defining turning point of Oxlade-Chamberlain's Liverpool career - his knee injury against Roma.
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"But the one moment that comes in my mind, it describes a little bit the time here but as well how good he is, is the situation in the Roma semi-final, the home game when he got injured. In that moment I had no idea how to replace him, honestly – Ox was that good.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has bid farewell to the Anfield faithful already (Paul Greenwood/REX/Shutterstock)"It was everything: he came here, had played from time to time at wing-back at Arsenal, winger for sure, and he became a proper number eight here in the way we wanted to play – super-energetic, technically outstanding."
Klopp went on to declare that Oxlade-Chamberlain's thunderous strike against Manchester City in the Champions League was his favourite goal scored by the Southampton academy graduate.
"It was always a real joy to work with him but again, one or two injuries too many caused some problems, obviously," the Reds boss added.
Oxlade Chamberlain spoke exclusively to Mirror Football and confessed the desire for success is still as strong as ever as he discussed what could be in store for him next.
"I still want success, I’ve had a taste of it here, they’ve been the best years ever. So, if by any chance, I can have another sniff of achieving anything like that again then I’d bite your hand off.
"I think I need to go and play somewhere as consistently as possible. They say you’re coming into your peak at 29, so I want to go and test myself, play consistently somewhere."