'Mad' contract clause cost Arsenal £1.4m before player left club to join Liverpool

 Arsenal were forced to cough up £1.4million to Southampton following their sale of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool, due to a peculiar clause in his contract.

The former England star became - and still is - the Gunners' record sale in 2017 when he moved to Anfield for an initial £35million, which later rose to £40m. The now 32-year-old started his career with Southampton but spent just one season of his professional career with the Saints before securing a £15m move to the Emirates Stadium in 2011.

That deal was structured around a £12m upfront payment, with a further £3m agreed in performance-related bonuses. A number of those add-ons were tied directly to the amount of playing time the midfielder would receive in north London.

According to Alan Gernon's 2018 book, The Transfer Market: The Inside Stories, Oxlade-Chamberlain's initial Arsenal contract contained a clause obliging the club to pay Southampton £10k every time he featured for at least 20 minutes.

Discussion around the clause intensified when observers noticed that Arsene Wenger frequently introduced the midfielder late in matches, often from the bench or after the 71st minute. Moreover, out of his 198 appearances for Arsenal, only 115 came as a starter.

The subject resurfaced during a 2024 episode of the That Peter Crouch Podcast, where the former Liverpool striker and his co-host, ex-Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell, expressed disbelief at the suggestion.

Reacting on the show, Sidwell asked: "Our researchers, is this real? Hold on, every 20 minutes?" Crouch followed up by saying: "I don't know if that's true [but] that is madness."

In total, the clause earned Southampton £1.4m, as Oxlade-Chamberlain played at least 20 minutes in 85 Premier League matches, 25 Champions League games, 18 FA Cup ties and nine EFL Cup fixtures during his six years in north London.

Oxlade-Chamberlain made more appearances for Arsenal than any other club, scoring 20 goals and providing 28 assists. During that period, he won three FA Cups and three Community Shields

His move to Liverpool again saw him used largely as a squad player, with injuries hampering his progress. In six seasons on Merseyside, he made just 103 Premier League appearances but still collected major honours as part of Liverpool's Champions League-winning squad in 2019 and their Premier League-winning side in 2020.

After leaving Liverpool in 2023, he joined Besiktas, where he won the Turkish Cup but once again struggled to establish himself as a regular starter. His contract was terminated in August 2025, and he has remained a free agent ever since.

While Oxlade-Chamberlain is free to sign for a new club at any time, securing a move before the transfer window closes on Monday will ensure the best chance of him being registered - and therefore eligible for all competitions his next team may contest.