Liverpool have had an almost perfect start to their 2021/22 Premier League campaign with five wins and three draws in their opening eight league games of the season, scoring 22 and conceding six goals in the process.

One player that has had very little to do so far this season is midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has only started one league game for the Reds which came on the opening day of the season in their 3-0 win at Norwich City.

Liverpool signed Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 2017 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League club Arsenal in a deal worth a reported fee of £35m.

Since then, the 28-year-old, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £120k-per-week according to Spotrac, has made 110 appearances for the Merseyside club in which he has managed to score 14 goals and provide 12 assists along the way across all competitions.

In terms of his market value, in October 2017, a few months after joining Jurgen Klopp's side it was listed as £27m according to Transfermarkt, whereas it now stands at £16.2m, highlighting a significant drop of £18.8m. That's despite the manager's appraisals, with the German even describing him as "outstanding."

In fairness to Oxlade-Chamberlain, the Englishman has suffered his fair share of injury issues that have impacted his playing time with the Reds over the years. That includes a cruciate ligament rupture he suffered back in April 2018 that kept him out of action until March 2019, which will have played some part in the drop in his market value.

In addition to that, he also suffered a knee injury that kept him out for 20 games between August and December last year.

However, with his lack of game time this season, even with no injury worries, it does seem that he is not a vital figure in Klopp's squad.

Looking ahead to the future, with it recently being reported that Oxlade-Chamberlain could be looking for the exit door at Liverpool to try and join a club where he would be given more playing time, it seems as though the club have a decision on their hands to make about his future at the club.

In our view, if he would be guaranteed regular playing time elsewhere at a club that would be willing to pay Liverpool what they would see as a suitable transfer fee for him, then the Merseyside club should give him what he wants.

If he were to leave and play regularly again in the future with no injury issues, we see no reason why his market value couldn't then go on and get back to where it was around the time he joined Liverpool.

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