Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed that Arsenal had a player during his time in North London who reminded him of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Arsene Wenger had a talented squad at his disposal during Oxlade-Chamberlain’s spell at the Emirates, boasting the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla.
The midfielder who eventually went on to win multiple major honours at Liverpool made 198 appearances for the Gunners between 2011 and 2017.
Now without a club after being released by Besiktas in August, Oxlade-Chamberlain was pictured training with Arsenal’s first team last week, as he assesses his options.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says Thierry Henry’s aura reminded him of Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Oxlade-Chamberlain spent a brief period playing alongside Thierry Henry at Arsenal.
The Frenchman famously returned to N5 in January 2012, joining on a two-month loan deal from New York Red Bulls.
This period produced one of the most iconic moments Emirates Stadium has witnessed, when the legendary striker came on as a substitute for his return to score the winning goal in an FA Cup tie against Leeds.
Having trained and played alongside Henry for these eight weeks, Oxlade-Chamberlain would have garnered an understanding of the man off the pitch.
Speaking on the Fozcast, the former Gunners winger claimed that Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer’s personality was similar to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“TT’s [Henry] got that like, he’s got that real aura, and he knows it and he uses it,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said.
“But not in a bad way, but he a lot of his jokes and his banter would be reminding you like come on.”
“A bit like Zlatan,” Foster said.
“Yeah,” replied Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“And like there’s nothing I can say about it, because you [Henry] are it. But maybe that’s something we lacked a little bit at the time at Arsenal, that edge.”
What Thierry Henry has said about Zlatan Ibrahimovic
For anyone who has watched Henry in various pieces of media, it’s clear what Oxlade-Chamberlain is trying to say.
The World Cup winner knows how good he was and knows that he carries a certain aura that will leave people somewhat in awe of him.
Interestingly, Henry clearly recognised that Ibrahimovic shared this trait, writing in 2016 that the Swede also had this ‘edge’.
“Zlatan was born for these types of games, he demands these types of games, and he usually performs,” he told Sky Sports ahead of a Manchester Derby.
“Zlatan obviously has a bit of an edge on him now, he’s not the young player he used to be, but there is something, he usually backs it up when he talks.
“He maybe hasn’t controlled games yet, but it doesn’t matter for Zlatan, he has scored, and that’s the impact you want. That is something I like about him, he brings a winning mentality.
“He doesn’t like second best, wherever he went he won the league.”
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