Free agent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain completes Celtic transfer nine months after last competitive game

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has joined Celtic on a free transfer nine months after his last competitive game.

The 32-year-old left Besiktas last summer following a mutual termination of his contract.

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Celtic sign Oxlade-Chamberlain

The former England international has joined the Hoops on a contract until the summer, with an option for a further year.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told the club’s website: “We are really pleased to bring Alex to Celtic.

“He still has so much to offer the game, and I am sure he can add another dimension to us with his great ability and wealth of experience in the game.

“Above all, he is passionate and excited about this move himself, so we are welcoming a great player who is hungry to help us achieve as much as we can.”

Speaking to Celtic TV, Oxlade-Chamberlain added: “It’s been a busy few days, but I’m delighted and really excited.

“Speaking with the manager, it just felt like the perfect fit for me, and I feel like I can come in and help out the lads.

“Just talking to the manager, and Shaun Maloney as well, who told the expectations on the club and what it means to play here, what our targets are and that he’s going to push me.

“That’s all the stuff I identify with, and that’s the environment I’ve always been in and been lucky enough to be in.

“It’s exactly what I need. I need another challenge and lucky enough at a massive club like this. And they can help me get back to where I need to get to and, more importantly, I need to help the team achieve the goals we want to do.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been training with former club Arsenal in recent weeks in a bid to regain match fitness. 

Having started his career at Southampton in 2009, he joined the Gunners in 2011 and then Liverpool in 2017, where he won the Premier League and Champions League.

He then joined Turkish Super League side Besiktas in 2023 and scored five goals in 50 appearances, winning the Turkish Cup in 2024.

He played under nine managers during his two years in Turkey, including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with none lasting more than 20 games.

His last senior football game before leaving in the summer was an 11-minute appearance against Adana Demirspor in May 2025.

Since then, Oxlade-Chamberlain played for Arsenal Under-21s in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Manchester United in December.

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Celtic are currently sitting in third place in the Scottish Premiership, six points behind leaders Hearts.

European football expert Andy Brassell believes the player can be an instant hit for the current champions.

He said: “I saw him a couple of times out there in the flesh in the Turkish Super League, and I think it’s clear that there’s still a big player in there.

“I think he can get to a level where he can be massively influential for Celtic quite quickly. 

“He scored the winner against Fenerbahce, and he was someone who could still run all day, he could still cover a number of midfield positions, he’s still got great craft.

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“A lot of the reason it didn’t work for him at Besiktas was circumstantial, and he was seen really as a symbol of a regime gone wrong, of a transfer policy gone wrong. None of that was really his fault.

“He was cast out because all of a sudden, they weren’t in a position to be chasing trophies, and he was still getting paid a lot of money.

“He was diligent, hard-working, there was still plenty of quality there. But he was just in a situation where, having been in clubs that were contending for stuff all his life, all of a sudden, he was in this completely dysfunctional situation where there was only a limited amount that he could do.”

“So I feel there’s plenty left in the Oxlade-Chamberlain tank.”

Celtic made three loan signings on transfer deadline day.

Striker Junior Adamu joined from Freiburg, winger Joel Mvuka from Lorient and defender Benjamin Arthur from Brentford.