Oxlade-Chamberlain Speaks From Portugal Camp: ‘It’s All About Hard Work’ | OneFootball

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has given his first words as a returning Celtic player from the club’s pre-season camp in Portugal – and he’s under no illusions about what the season ahead demands.

Celtic posted a clip via their official X account on Thursday showing Oxlade-Chamberlain speaking to Celtic Player after joining up with the squad in Portugal, with the full interview sitting behind the subscription service. What we did get was brief but characteristically direct from the former Liverpool and Arsenal man.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of hard work but that’s what it’s all about,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said. It won’t win any awards for poetry, but there’s something grounding about a player who arrives without pretension, acknowledges the graft required, and gets on with it. After a half-season that ended in a domestic double, he’s earned the right to a second chapter here.

The Portugal camp is the centrepiece of Celtic’s pre-season preparations, and it’s worth noting the squad Oxlade-Chamberlain is integrating into has been taking shape carefully. The confirmed backroom staff brings genuine substance, and the recent addition of a set-piece coach signals the level of detail being applied to this rebuild. Oxlade-Chamberlain is walking into a serious operation.

It hasn’t been without its complications in Portugal, mind. Pre-season is rarely as clean as the brochure suggests – managing a squad through a Portugal stint, keeping everyone sharp, and bringing new signings up to speed is the unglamorous side of it that the coaching staff are navigating right now.

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s arrival on a new deal after his decisive contributions in the title run-in last season felt like the right call. He’s 32, he knows what top-level football demands, and the one-line message out of Portugal suggests a man focused entirely on the work. That’s exactly what we need heading into what promises to be another demanding campaign.

Mon The Hoops.