Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can contribute some valuable goals for Southampton like Stuart Armstrong used to do but being a benchwarmer in the Turkish league may deter a St. Mary's homecoming.
Southampton are synonymous with developing raw talents into top first division players but for almost two decades, they had basically nothing to show for when it came to watching those wonderkids see the sunset of their careers at St. Mary's. Then, Theo Walcott and Adam Lallana went back to improve this norm, and the latter is still a Saint, but now as an assistant.
Now, he isn't eligible to roll back the years and play with some familiar names all over again if some former players assemble again in a Saints kit. Yet, training them isn't a bad idea either and one of them can be his midfield partner in three different dressing rooms, not just one.
As suggested by the EFL Analysis, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the name who has spared himself more than a month to search a new club. Now, Southampton will be a linked destination for the 31-year-old all the way until he officially finds a new summer home and there's nothing wrong with it.
Saints must estimate pros and cons of Oxlade-Chamberlain swoop
Coming to the fans, they can be thrilled as well as worried here, because Oxlade-Chamberlain carries an advanced midfielder profile with him. Like Stuart Armstrong, Oxlade-Chamberlain is a classy box-to-box operator who has a good range of finishing in his locker apart from obviously threading inch-perfect passes.
Still, Southampton will have to be careful with managing Alex's workload because he has gradually seen less and less of the grass at Besiktas.
Therefore, lacing up his boots more often in the Championship can cause more fatigue, which will demand some formation experimenting from Will Still. Will the Saints boss be ready to risk these headaches by pushing for Alex's homecoming, only time holds the answer.