Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss this summer’s European Championship with a knee injury.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has not played for the Gunners since February’s 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium in the last-16 of the Champions League against Barcelona.
Wenger claimed last week that his entire squad was finally injury free for the first time this season, however, the Frenchman provided a disappointing update at today’s press conference.
“We have lost Chamberlain during the week, he will be out for six to eight weeks,” he said. “I’m very sad because he was quite sharp and physically ready. He looked sharp in training last week. He was planned to play on Tuesday night but he got injured on Monday morning.
“There’s no chance for the Euros. I’ve not spoken to Roy Hodgson yet, I was only informed about it yesterday. I had a little conversation with Alex and our medical team yesterday and he will be back in early July.
“It’s bad news. Alex was out for a while and anyway he wasn’t overloaded with games. You want a guy of his age to go to the European championships. He’s an impact player as well. England have quite a few problems up front and I think it’s bad.”
Given the six to eight week length of the injury, Oxlade-Chamberlain will now return in July which is an enormous blow for the midfielder who has been dogged by issues over the last couple of years.
He has made just 22 appearances in the top flight this season and scored only once as he’s missed the Gunners’ last ten Premier League games with injury.
In the appearances he has made, the former Southampton academy graduate created 19 chances but has not provided an assist as his final third impact has been minimal for the north Londoners.
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