He seems to have divided opinion for years now, but as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain returns to Arsenal with Liverpool on Friday night, he does so having won over a sizeable chunk of his new club's supporters.

The midfielder made a £35m switch to Anfield from the Emirates on transfer deadline day, and he's been turning in some impressive performances of late having never quite been able to convince Gunners fans consistently.

Oxlade-Chamberlain became only the fifth player to play in the Premier League for both the Gunners and the Reds when he made the move.

But who are the others, and how did they get on?

Chamberlain has had to be patient, but he's starting to make his mark at Liverpool (
Image:
Getty)
He played 198 times for Arsenal over six years (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

NB. Arsenal's 1989 hero Michael Thomas doesn't make the list as his time at Arsenal ended before the formation of the Premier League, in which he only played for Liverpool

Nicolas Anelka

Arsenal 1997-1999 (65 PL appearances, 23 goals)

Le enfant terrible (
Image:
Getty)

One of Arsene Wenger's very first "polishing a rough diamond" sort of signings, Anelka exploded onto the scene as a teenager in Arsenal's double-winning season of 1997/98, scoring in the FA Cup final win over Newcastle.

Unfortunately for Wenger, Anelka also ended up as one of the first examples of the transfer struggles that would come later, as his head was turned by Real Madrid following a stellar 1998/99 and he was soon off to the Spanish capital.

Liverpool 2001-2002 (20 PL appearances, 4 goals)

Diouf?! Really, Gerard? (
Image:
Getty)

After Robbie Fowler left for Leeds in late 2001, Liverpool needed a new forward.

Anelka - firmly in the "Le Sulk" phase - had moved back to PSG after Real Madrid, but the Reds managed to take him on loan for the latter half of the campaign, and even though he impressed fans, Gerard Houllier opted not to make his move permanent - instead paying £10m for El-Hadji Diouf.

That went well, eh?

The Arsenal-Liverpool-o-meter: 90% Arsenal, 10% Liverpool

Jermaine Pennant

Arsenal 1999-2005 (12 PL appearances, 3 goals)

Arsenal players loved that bit of Vicks on their shirts back then, didn't they? (
Image:
Daily Mirror)

Much-hyped as a record £2m teenager when he joined the Gunners from Notts County in 1999, it never quite worked out for Pennant at Arsenal - although he did manage a Premier League hat-trick on his full league debut in a match against Southampton.

A lack of opportunities meant that he had to seek his first-team football elsewhere though, and he enjoyed loan spells as Watford and Leeds before leaving for Birmingham.

Liverpool 2006-2008 (55 PL appearances, 3 goals)

No doubt aiming for Peter Crouch's head (
Image:
Getty)

At a time when boss Rafael Benitez was chasing bigger names but had to settle for lesser ones due to financial restrictions amid Liverpool's ownership chaos, Pennant was very much a typical addition for the Reds.

He did impress in their Champions League final defeat to Milan at the end of his first season though, but ultimately he made a minimal impact at Anfield despite gaining much more game-time than he got at Arsenal.

The Arsenal-Liverpool-o-meter: 20% Arsenal, 80% Liverpool

Kolo Toure

Arsenal 2002-2009 (225 PL appearances, 9 goals)

Back before the Kolo-Yaya song became a thing (
Image:
Getty)

Like Anelka, Toure was plucked from relative obscurity by Wenger and thrown pretty much straight into the Arsenal team in 2002, with the story of his brilliant trial at the club having long since gone viral.

He was a vital member of the 2004 Invincibles team and also won two FA Cups with the Gunners, where he made his name as an athletic, hard-working defender.

Liverpool 2013-2016 (46 PL appearances, 1 goal)

"Weeeeeeee" (
Image:
John Powell)

Signed by Brendan Rodgers from Manchester City in 2013, Toure was seen as a calm, experienced head in a young Liverpool side which was suddenly going for title, but in reality he was just as mad as the rest of them. Probably madder.

Despite getting more than a little erratic with age, he was still a popular figure with Reds fans though, and celebrated his one and only goal for the club - the sixth in a 6-0 win over Aston Villa - as if he'd just won the World Cup.

The Arsenal-Liverpool-o-meter: 80% Arsenal, 20% Liverpool

Yossi Benayoun

Liverpool 2007-2010 (92 PL appearances, 18 goals)

Benayoun: The slayer of Havant & Waterlooville, Besiktas and Burnley (
Image:
Daily Mirror)

Be honest, you'd forgotten about this one hadn't you?

The only man to go 'Liverpool first' in this list, Israel's Benayoun was a more than useful player for the Reds, scoring hat-tricks in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup as well as heading a famous winner at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid.

After three pretty decent seasons he left for Chelsea in 2010.

Arsenal 2011-2012 (19 PL appearances, 4 goals)

Looks odd, doesn't it? (
Image:
Bryn Lennon)

Arsenal's strange summer of 2011 ended with them bringing in a raft of new players shortly before the transfer deadline, with Benayoun brought in on loan from an underwhelming spell at Chelsea to help replace the likes of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas.

He contributed sporadically over the campaign, but was never able to capture the form of the importance to the team that he had at Liverpool.

The Arsenal-Liverpool-o-meter: 10% Arsenal, 90% Liverpool

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Arsenal 2011-2017 (132 PL appearances, 9 goals)

Gunner fans wish they'd seen this sight more often (
Image:
AFP)

A tale of promise, frustration and unfulfilled potential, Arsenal fans always seemed to be waiting for Oxlade-Chamberlain to kick on at their club but he never quite did.

Very often a good performance or run of form would be followed by a loss of confidence, an injury or both, and although he was part of two FA Cup final winning teams, there became a real sense that he'd gone stale there by the time he made his summer switch to Liverpool as his contract ran down.

Liverpool 2017-present (15 PL appearances, 1 goal)

Jurgen Klopp has been patient with his new man (
Image:
AFP)

It is still far too early in Oxlade-Chamberlain's Liverpool career to make a definitive judgement on how he's doing, especially after Jurgen Klopp opted to introduce him into the team slowly over a series of cameo appearances.

He's beginning to impress his new club's fans though, scoring in the Champions League win at Maribor and Premier League victory at West Ham.

He's still pretty "Arsenal", but it might just be that this Liverpool team suits his game in a way that Arsene Wenger's tactics didn't.

The Arsenal-Liverpool-o-meter: 90% Arsenal, 10% Liverpool... but that'll change

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