Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has extended his stay with Liverpool by signing a new long-term contract, Liver have confirmed. The club announced the news Thursday via their official website.
Oxlade-Chamberlain's new contract will run until 2023. The player has released a statement, which read:
"I'm really, really excited - it's been in the pipeline for a little while, so it's nice to finally get it done and just extend my time here, which I am really looking forward to.
According to James Pearce of The Athletic, the extension is understood to be until 2023. The new contract proves Liverpool's commitment to Oxlade-Chamberlain's improvement in spite of the injuries he has obtained while playing for them.
Oxlade-Chamberlain signed with Liverpool in 2017 from Arsenal. He had done well in the club's first season under the management of Jurgen Klopp, scoring 5 goals across in 42 appearances across all competitions.
In a UEFA Champions League meeting versus AS Roma last year, the 26-year-old injured his right knee, having torn multiple ligaments. This lead to the player missing most of the 2018-2019 campaign, only managing to appear less than 20 minutes in his club's last three league games.
Still Oxlade-Chamberlain maintained his good relationship with Liverpool, who at one point expressed his affection for the city and his willingness to stay with Europe's defending champions.
Now that he's healthy and able to play, Klopp appears to be more motivated to get more from Oxlade-Chamberlain. In Liverpool's Premier League-opening victory over Norwich City, he was an unused substitute, but he got to play during their game with Southampton, with a 2-1 victory.
Spectators applaud Oxlade-Chamberlain, saying he was a natural in the middle of the park while gaining more time as a central option for Liverpool. He is the most recent first-team player to have extended his contract after the Reds kept some key players in recent years.
Oxlade-Chamberlain joins several players with contracts until 2023, including Naby Keita, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Robert Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane, and Mohamed Salah.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Alisson will remain with the club until 2024, along with Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson, and Trent-Alexander-Arnold.
Goal's Neil Jones recently paid tribute to England international Oxlade-Chamberlain for his work in returning football's pinnacle and earning Klopp's faith.
Oxlade-Chamberlain's extended contract is the manifestation of Liverpool's promise to keep the player at Anfield. Klopp is reportedly hoping that the player continues to enjoy his time with the club now that he's ready to play again.
