Arsenal might have seen the last of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

It could be the last they see of him. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was sat disconsolately on the St Mary’s turf, Aaron Ramsey and Rob Holding bent over him in concern. He was back at the club where it all started for him, Southampton, and then back on the treatment table. If he does not recover in time for the FA Cup final, he may have played his last game of the season. He may have played his last match for Arsenal.

There was something very Arsenal-ish about it. The man named their player of the month for April was hamstrung by the middle of May. Negative followed positive, creating the unanswerable question of what might have been at a club where potential can go unrealised in unfortunate fashion.

And yet there has been something unArsenalish about Oxlade-Chamberlain of late. In a campaign where too many squad players have failed to deceive or simply failed, he has arguably impressed and improved. He certainly has the best goals (six) and assists (eight) tallies of his six seasons at the Emirates Stadium. In a group of young Brits who tend to be bracketed together as Arsenal’s lost generation, an example of tomorrow never coming, he is the anomaly, both younger (23) and perhaps alone both in not stagnating yet and being willing to eye the exit to ensure he does not.

Certainly, Oxlade-Chamberlain stands out. Arsenal’s export business has not dried up, and as long as Alexis Sanchez attracts covetous glances from the European elite, it will not, but too few of his team-mates should generate interest because of their efforts this season. Oxlade-Chamberlain will, principally from Liverpool.

It is a reason why, for all the focus on securing Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to new deals, the actual imperative is to get the signatures of the Chilean and Oxlade-Chamberlain on extended contracts. Ozil, who may have fewer alternatives, can wait. The German has become the face of Arsenal’s shortcomings, Oxlade-Chamberlain a man railing eloquently against them.

His honest interview after the 2-1 win at Middlesbrough was an overdue admission that someone at the Emirates accepted how wretched their Spring had been. He proved a catalytic figure in the two results that may yet reframe the narrative that Arsenal cannot win big games.

He recorded one assist against Manchester City and two against Manchester United, winning personal duels with Leroy Sane and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, two of the more feared left wingers in the Premier League. He was initially troubled by the German. His eventual triumph was all the more admirable because he was deployed as a makeshift wing-back, and not in a system as meticulously configured as Tottenham or Chelsea’s similar shapes.

It is quietly remarkable that he has been preferred to Hector Bellerin, supposed Barcelona target and subject of Pep Guardiola’s admiration, in a role that could have been designed for the Spaniard. If Arsene Wenger’s switch to 3-4-2-1 has worked – it remains an ‘if’, although it is a sticking plaster that has enabled wounds to heal a little – it is in no small part due to Oxlade-Chamberlain and his can-do mentality.

His last month has offered evidence of character, something Arsenal have long been accused of lacking. It might not necessarily render him the new Dani Alves – and in the mould of many a versatile footballer, his preferred position remains central midfield – but that capacity to respond to the team’s requirements can be invaluable.

Certainly it is easy to see why Jurgen Klopp might want him. Oxlade-Chamberlain may have the skillset to be an eager gegenpresser, a second Gini Wijnaldum, a player whose abilities are used better in Liverpool’s up-tempo team whose ethos he suits. The 23-year-old may see a chance to operate centrally rather than as right wing-back, right winger and left winger while the continuing emphasis on Ozil reduces others’ opportunities to play in the middle.

Klopp might look at his underlying willingness and sense a kindred spirit of one of his favourite players. Adaptable, energetic, unselfish and almost certainly a more dependable left-back than Alberto Moreno, Oxlade-Chamberlain could shape up as the new James Milner.

It might seem an underwhelming fate for a man who excelled at 18 for England in their Euro 2012 opener and who scored a terrific goal against Brazil at the Maracana when still a teenager. Yet if the alternative is becoming the second Jack Wilshere, injured, slipping down the pecking order and loaned to Bournemouth when he should be near his peak, it looks altogether preferable.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has helped revitalise Arsenal of late. Yet if that sense of freshness extends to seeking a fresh challenge, it will represent an indictment of the club they have become. The stability at Arsenal has come not just from Wenger’s longevity but from the way squad players hung around the club, often for too long. Their status can seem unchanging, yet there has to be a recognition when they are progressing into pivotal figures. The worried looks on his team-mates’ faces indicated Oxlade-Chamberlain’s importance, both for the next couple of weeks and for the future. But only if he can take the field for Arsenal again.