Southampton captain admits Oxlade-Chamberlain contact

Southampton's captain, Jose Fonte, has admitted he has spoken to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain about a possible return to Southampton, the club where he made the break through to first team football. With just two years left on his contract, Oxlade-Chamberlain's name has made rumour pages, with several links to both Manchester clubs, West Ham and a return to Southampton, from whom he joined in 2011, for a fee of £15m. Oxlade-Chamberlain turns 23 in August, and while he has perhaps not progressed to the extent we would've liked, he still seems too far in his career to return to Southampton, something his conversations with Fonte reveal:

I know how good he is. We played together when he was only 15 or 16. So I've known him for a long time, And I am not going to lie: we talked about it [going back].
I asked him, I spoke to him, I am good friends with him. I want the best for him but what can I say? He's an Arsenal player. He's happy there.
He has the quality to be a star player at Arsenal but what I mean is we would love to have him back.If we want to put a team out to fight for trophies, to fight in European competitions, why not?
He knows he has a place in our hearts and he knows that anytime he wants a place in Southampton he has it. We are going in the right path. We want to achieve better and bigger things. So it's up to him.

With just two years left on his contract, Arsenal may decide on Oxlade-Chamberlain's future, but it is likely that he wouldn't move to Southampton; the Saints are unlikely to be able to compete with bigger clubs, in terms of wages and transfer fee, and while Oxlade-Chamberlain may have had a disappointing season, he is a talented player, who is also home-grown, which will add an attraction to the likes of Manchester City.