The message would have doubtless been the same whether it came from 'Le Boss' or the equally grizzled Rice. Oxlade-Chamberlain, who turned 18 only a month ago, “has a great future ahead of him,” the Arsenal No.2 opined. Much of the attention on the teenager has focused on his obvious similarities to another Southampton old boy Theo Walcott in terms of background, price tag, stature and precocity. To make the connection even greater, they are even being played by Wenger in the same position. But Oxlade-Chamberlain possesses a self-assurance on the pitch that Walcott, for all his match-winning qualities, still sometimes lacks. It was most evident just eight minutes into his Champions League debut in the way he intelligently ran from his right flank station to take Alex Song’s cleverly weighted pass on his chest, charged into the box and deftly finished with his left foot in a manner of which Ian Wright would have been proud. The movement, touch, speed and absolute certainty of the finish hinted at far more than the precociousness of youth. Here is a player with the all-round game to become not just an Arsenal regular but an England one too, a player who Wenger believes will eventually make his mark in a more central role, orchestrating events behind the main striker.
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