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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has cut ties with Turkish outfit Besiktas, paving the way for a return to England in the final days of the transfer window.
The former England international is rumored to be on Birmingham City's radar, with the Championship club chasing promotion to the Premier League, and is now free to make his way back to England after a two-year stint with Besiktas.
Besiktas has shelled out around $2 million to bring Oxlade-Chamberlain's contract to an early conclusion. The 32-year-old midfielder is best known for his time at Liverpool, where he made 146 appearances during a six-year spell on Merseyside.
Birmingham has already welcomed 10 new faces during the summer transfer window and is looking to put the finishing touches to its squad ahead of Monday's deadline.
The team's manager, Chris Davies, is focusing on bolstering the defence, but other deals could still be on the cards if players depart.
Oxlade-Chamberlain clocked up six years each at Arsenal and Liverpool before jetting off to Turkey in 2023. His trophy haul from those spells includes the Premier League, the Champions League, and four FA Cups.
Now aged 32, he'll bring a wealth of experience and adaptability to his next club.
Primarily a midfielder or winger, Oxlade-Chamberlain has also filled in at full-back during a career that kicked off at his childhood club, Southampton, in 2010.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has also represented England's senior team 35 times, with the last of those caps coming in 2019. His time at Liverpool was overshadowed by injuries, particularly the serious knee injury he suffered in 2018.
"Ox is a super guy, an absolutely super guy," said former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after Oxlade-Chamberlain left Liverpool in 2023.
"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 percent happy and I can understand that, definitely.
"But the one moment that comes in my mind... is the situation in the Roma semifinal, the home game when he got injured (in 2018).
"In that moment, I had no idea how to replace him, honestly – Ox was that good.
"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 No.8 here in the way we wanted to play – super-energetic, technically outstanding."
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