Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese has criticised Arsène Wenger for going public over his interest in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arsenal saw a bid rejected for the 17-year-old in the January transfer window.
In a candid interview with The Telegraph, Cortese admitted Wenger’s comments to a number of journalists about the player hampered the clubs chances of signing the prospect. He also went on to say he never believed Oxlade-Chamberlain would leave the South Coast, with many speculating a summer move is far more likely.
“It definitely did not help their cause. We focused on what we wanted to do and not what others wanted to do. I was in the driver’s seat. There was not a second I doubted that he would stay.”
Liverpool stepped up their interest for the youngster around the same time Arsenal opened negotiations, but Cortese indirectly slammed the Reds for ‘not caring’, after they were believed to have faxed an offer instead of talking to the Saints directly.
“I have experienced a lot of things over the past month about the behaviour of some Premier League clubs. Some have really behaved very well. There has been professionalism and there has been the complete opposite as well.”
“Some simply sent a fax. No communication, nothing. It gave the impression that they didn’t care about the boy. Those faxes went straight into the bin. The others made a phone enquiry and I said I didn’t want to get involved in negotiations.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain is poised to start for England Under 21′s against Italy Under 21′s on Tuesday afternoon.
It is a good sinning for arsenal to sing alex