Alexis Sanchez 'works harder' than any other Arsenal player, says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Chilean star has five goals in 12 matches since £35m

Alexis Sanchez celebrates after scoring his first goal for Arsenal in the Champions League qualifier against Besiktas (Getty Images)

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has hailed the performances of Arsenal's newest star, Alexis Sanchez.

Sanchez, a £35m arrival from Barcelona in the summer, has five goals and two assists in 11 matches for the Gunners in all competitions this season.

With Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott all missing at various stages this season Sanchez has had to perform from the moment he arrived and will continue to be a key man for Arsene Wenger.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has not only praised the Chilean's quality, but also his work rate and committment.

"Alexis is a brilliant player and he does stuff that really does surprise you and you think, 'how has he got out of that one?', he told the club's website.

"Like against Southampton, he’ll step up and put a free-kick in the top corner.

"I knew he was going to do that because in the warm-up he had four in a row in front of a lot of fans.

"When he stood up to take the free-kick in the game I said to Kieran [Gibbs], 'this is going in, you should have seen him in the warm-up' and he put it top corner.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is also set for a bigger role because of injuries (Getty Images)

"It’s moments of brilliance like that [which show his quality] but at the same time he works harder than I think I’ve seen anyone work.

"He is so skilful but he also does the defensive work up front and sets the tone."