Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has claimed that Emmanuel Eboue was the reason for settling at the Emirates stadium. The former Southampton winger came to the gunners as a 17-year-old.
Hence, there was a huge possibility of Chamberlain unable to become the player Arsenal thought he would. As a youngster, moving to a new club at this age is a tough challenge for anyone. However, the presence of Eboue appears to have helped the England winger settle himself in the new surroundings. Eboue may no longer play for Arsenal but he is remembered as one of the first generation Africans to do exceedingly well at the club.
Towards the later part of his Arsenal career, he fell out of favour with the fans and the manager and this led to his exit. The Ivory Coast defender is now playing with Galatasaray in the Turkish league. The regular football offered by the Turkish club has helped him rediscover his form and there are now reports of several Premier League clubs being interested in bringing him back to England. Oxlade-Chamberlain says that his first training session with Arsenal was when he encountered the personality of Eboue, whose humour helped him relax straightaway.
Despite being hit by injuries, Oxlade-Chamberlain is turning out to be a good buy for Arsenal.”I remember my first training session. I think I was just coming back from an ankle injury as well.As I arrived, my first session was with Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboue – just the three of us doing passing drills.I remember I couldn’t even pass the ball more than five yards in the first 10 minutes. Eboue made me feel comfortable and welcome with his jokes and his laughing and I settled into it a little bit more,” said the winger who is now 21.
