Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being spotted training at Arsenal this week should have been a simple, harmless news update. He is a free agent after his contract with Besiktas was mutually terminated in the summer with one year still remaining on his deal, and now he is definitely attempting to keep himself sharp while he works to get his next move. Arsenal have provided him access to their facilities and the U21 set-up – and that’s a pretty regular thing to do for a former player, who spent seven years in North London before moving to the Merseyside.
Arsenal recruited Chamberlain from Southampton in August 2011 for roughly £12m as one of the most promising English kids of his generation. The then Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, gave him great responsibilities very early – Champions League, FA Cup finals, England caps — everything pointed to a long Arsenal career. But injuries repeatedly broke his rhythm. One season he would start on fire, then he would miss two or three months. He never really had that long, continuous run at Arsenal where you could say: “Ox is the perfect fit at Arsenal.”
Then came 2017. That was the summer where things changed.
He refused to sign a new deal from Arsenal, turned down Chelsea, and picked Liverpool. He joined Klopp’s Liverpool project as it was ready to erupt. That is why Arsenal fans are taking it personally. He wasn’t leaving only for money – he was departing for a rival in their own league who were developing something special Arsenal couldn’t cope with at the time.
And it was proven right.
He won the Champions League. He won the Premier League. He became part of that modern Liverpool DNA.
That’s precisely why now, in 2025, when he appears training at Arsenal again – it reopens old wounds.
The moment Sky Sports tweeted that Chamberlain was practicing with Arsenal again, the reactions on X (previously Twitter) transformed into a classroom-like battle between Arsenal and Liverpool fans. Arsenal fans appeared split — a segment of them didn’t appreciate the thought of a player who had left them for Liverpool now coming to Colney, Arsenal’s training ground, even briefly. They see it as a bit of a bitter scenario: Ox elected to walk out to join Klopp’s project in 2017, had his peak years at Anfield, won trophies there, and now, suddenly, Colney’s doors are open again for him.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back training at Arsenal as he plots his next move 🚨
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 3, 2025
The 32-year-old will predominantly work with the Under-21s as he looks to maintain his fitness. pic.twitter.com/BUn9gybcbR
What happened to the Liverpool training facility? That’s where he’s supposed to be. Get him out please
— Acetyl CoA (@phychem11) November 3, 2025
These snakes always finds their way back to us. Fabregas, Sagna and now Oxlade
— YaGunner (@YaGunnerss) November 3, 2025
Arsenal have long had a “open door to old boys” culture in London Colney. Jack Wilshere used it. Sol Campbell did it twice. Even Santi Cazorla popped in post-injury to train and rehab.
On the other hand, Liverpool fans are having fun with this. For them, Ox belongs more to their modern identity than Arsenal’s. His top levels, his finest football, his best memories — the Champions League, the Premier League, the big nights under Klopp – all came wearing the Merseyside’s red, but not London’s red. So Liverpool fans took this moment to remind Arsenal fans of that.
He’s only training so he can flex his CL medal. 🤣 https://t.co/yOnvjG6j3v pic.twitter.com/HX6FQozKLS
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) November 3, 2025
Neither Chamberlain has asked to play for Arsenal again nor he is negotiating a deal. He is essentially just using the facility to not lose match fitness before he signs his next deal – which may or may not even be in England.
But this is the present day football internet – a basic fitness protocol becomes a “fan war.” Arsenal fans don’t want to feel like they are assisting a guy who left them for a rival. Liverpool fans want to flex that they got the better years out of him.
Arsenal is a "Family club"
— mwansa🇿🇲 (@mwansapazed) November 3, 2025
Most of our ex players choose to come back and train or earn coaching badges at Arsenal than their immediate past club.
