Leicester City enter talks to sign former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder | OneFootball

The Premier League winner could be on his way back to England.

Leicester City have reportedly approached Besiktas about signing former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Just like the last time they came down, the Foxes are likely to have a lot of players with top flight experience in their ranks. This knowhow and exposure to playing at the highest level stood them in good stead and led them to winning the Championship and an immediate return to the Premier League - a feat that they will look to repeat next season.

The club's main area of strength the last time they were in the Championship was in midfield. A trio of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred Ndidi and Harry Winks all brought quality and wisdom from a higher level down to the second tier. Now Leicester may look to add a player of a similar vein this summer: Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Leicester make contact over potential Oxlade-Chamberlain move

Besiktas' 31-year-old could be on the move this summer only a couple of years on from his move to Turkey. Oxlade-Chamberlain has struggled to get consistent minutes in the Super Lig outfit's first-team ever since making his move there from Anfield as a free agent.

The club want to get the Ox off of their books, according to Fotomac, and Leicester have reportedly got in contact with them about signing the former England international. City and Wolves were linked with him in January by The Sun, as were Leeds United and Sheffield United.

The Southampton academy graduate is said to be on £2.2 million per year - £300,000 more than the average estimated yearly earnings of Leicester's players from last season, as per Capology - and would need to be bought as he has one year left on his contract.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has previously stressed the importance that he places on playing regularly. He struggled with injuries in the latter part of his tenure with Liverpool. He told The Athletic, a few months after his move to Turkey: "I just want to play. I need to play, to take this opportunity and see what I can still achieve while my legs are still moving."

A move for Oxlade-Chamberlain has its ups and its downs for Leicester

Even at 31, the talent that the midfielder possesses will still be vast. Were it not for his struggles with staying fit, Oxlade-Chamberlain would have played a much bigger role for Jurgen Klopp during his massively successful period on Merseyside.

For Leicester, it's whether that risk is worth taking a gamble on, because that's what it is. There's no certainty of him coming back to the country and quickly making an impact in games for the Foxes, and also whether he would be a strong long-term option for them.

Any player that City look to bring in this summer needs to be part of the vision that they will get back up to the Premier League in the coming years. Their squad needs to be better prepared for that jump than it was last time, and that poses another question about how good of a match Oxlade-Chamberlain is for the Foxes.