Celtic have signed former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The 32-year-old England international, recently a free agent, has joined the Scottish champions until the end of the season with an option to extend for a further 12 months.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is the fifth player to arrive since Martin O’Neill returned for a second interim spell as manager. Sky Sports News revealed Celtic’s interest earlier in the week, and O’Neill confirmed the player wanted to move to the club after fresh talks on Friday. Oxlade-Chamberlain had been training with former club Arsenal after mutually terminating his contract with Turkish side Besiktas in August.
O’Neill said: “We are really pleased to bring Alex to Celtic. He still has so much to offer the game, and I am sure he can add another dimension to us with his great ability and wealth of experience in the game. Above all, he is passionate and excited about this move himself so we are welcoming a great player who is hungry to help us achieve as much as we can.”
Speaking to Celtic TV, Oxlade-Chamberlain added: “It’s been a busy few days but I’m delighted and really excited. Speaking with the manager, it just felt like the perfect fit for me and I feel like I can come in and help out the lads. Just talking to the manager, and Shaun Maloney as well, who told the expectations on the club and what it means to play here, what our targets are and that he’s going to push me. That’s all the stuff I identify with and that’s the environment I’ve always been in and been lucky enough to be in. It’s exactly what I need. I need another challenge and lucky enough at a massive club like this. And they can help me get back to where I need to get to and, more importantly, I need to help the team achieve the goals we want to do.”
The 35-cap England midfielder was unveiled to fans at Celtic Park as the club beat Dundee in the Scottish Cup. He joins recent loan additions Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu, Joel Mvuka and Benjamin Arthur as Celtic try to close the gap on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts. Julian Araujo also joined on loan from Bournemouth during January under former boss Wilfried Nancy.
Oxlade-Chamberlain could make his league debut in Celtic’s next match against bottom side Livingston, followed by a trip to second-bottom Kilmarnock. He will not be eligible for the Europa League knockout play-off against Stuttgart, however, because his registration was not completed in time. O’Neill has instead added Cvancara, Araujo and Adamu to the European squad, meaning deadline-day arrivals Arthur and Mvuka miss out.