Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says the cosmopolitan nature of Arsenal's dressing room has helped the team's new signings to settle in north London.
David Ospina and Alexis Sanchez became the latest Spanish speakers to join the club this summer, with Joel Campbell also returning from a loan spell at Olympiacos.
Eleven nations are represented in Arsenal's multi-national first-team squad, and the Ox believes the diversity suits the new additions.
"It’s just as easy for [players like Alexis to settle] because we’ve got so many Spanish boys," he told Arsenal Player. "They’ve been speaking Spanish all day long and they’ve been able to settle in really well.
"It’s important that you try and help you new team mates whatever language they speak"
"The Spanish boys have helped them out in that sense because, if I was to ever find myself in a situation where I was playing in a different country, if I had a few that could speak my language I imagine that would be really nice and help you to settle in.
"At the same time they’re trying to speak English and [with] Alexis, even though his English isn’t the best, you can just tell with his expressions and he’s always upbeat and lively. We can communicate in a different kind of way with him and the Spanish boys help to translate and they try to teach him stuff.
"You can see that with Santi - he now speaks good English and you can have a full conversation with them and it doesn’t take long. It’s good for team morale to see everyone getting on with everyone off the pitch even though there’s communication barriers at times. It’s important that you try and help you new team mates whatever language they speak."
Oxlade-Chamberlain has praised captain Mikel Arteta for his welcoming approach towards new players - regardless of where they come from.
"With Alexis and David Ospina, the Spanish boys have helped them out a lot," he said. "Mikel is always the father to everyone in the team - the English boys as well.
"He’s always the go-to guy for the new Spanish players because he’s been around the squad and he’s the captain now so he knows a lot of what’s going on. He’s helped all the Spanish boys out."
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
