Why Chelsea's Brazilian Midfielder Oscar Is the Embodiment of Arsenal

It was as recent as last Saturday that Arsenal fans were dreaming again of a first Premier League title since 2004.

Arsene Wenger's side had just beaten Stoke City, 3-1, at the Emirates Stadium to go top of the table, and as they looked down on their rivals, so thoughts of being champions dominated their psyches.

That Chelsea faced West Bromwich Albion the following day needing just a draw to reclaim their position as leaders wasn't important. The Gunners were heading into Christmas looking as strong as they have for some time, propelled forward by their talisman Alexis Sanchez, who is hunting down Diego Costa in the scoring charts.

For all the false dawns of the past, this season has felt different—or so we thought. Then an away trip to Goodison Park dented the dream. If we include Chelsea's victories over West Brom and Sunderland, in 270 minutes of football, Arsenal were handed a reality check.

From being top on Saturday, by Wednesday evening Wenger's men had slipped to third, six points behind the league leaders. With so much football still left to play in 2016/17, it's not irreparable damage, but then again, this is Arsenal. By hook or by crook, they seem to contrive a way for setting their fans up for a fall.

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The moment the Gunners allow themselves to even believe being crowned champions is possible, they implode. That's what happened against Everton on Tuesday when Ashley Williams scored in the 86th minute to win a game Arsenal had been leading.

It all brings us to Oscar, the Chelsea midfielder who is set for an incredible £60 million move to the Chinese Super League. According to the player himself, per BBC Sport, his move from London to Shanghai SIPG next month is "90 per cent done" and "just depends on a few bureaucratic details."

If ever there was a player who represented the same qualities as Arsenal so often show, it is Oscar. On paper, the Brazilian has it all; he's skilful, has a knack for scoring wonder-goals and, when on top of his game, can be unplayable.

Oscar's a player born for the YouTube generation. In highlight reels, he looks a phenomenon, but in reality, those flashes of brilliance have never been sustainable. He's flattered to deceive; Oscar's teased Chelsea fans with glimpses of what he might be without ever delivering on it enough.

Just like Arsenal.

Take his Chelsea debut against Juventus in the 2012/13 Champions League campaign. Incidentally, Antonio Conte was Juve boss at the time, and we saw something rare when Oscar led Andrea Pirlo on a merry dance in midfield, scoring twice in a game the Blues should have won but drew, 2-2.

This was Pirlo at the height of his powers. Despite his ageing years, it was the season on the back of Euro 2012 when he had orchestrated Italy's path to the final. Facing a dominant Spain proved one step too far for the Azzurri, yet it didn't prevent the legend of Pirlo being fully indoctrinated on adoring observers.

For Oscar to perform the way he did—and on his debut, no less—had Chelsea fans salivating.

They hadn't known much about this Brazilian kid. Oscar was just 21 at the time, and fans had been waiting since the summer to see him in action for the Blues after he had competed at the 2012 London Olympics. Then Juventus happened; it sent them into overdrive.

The problem was that Oscar would never hit those same heights in a Chelsea shirt. His was a debut of epic proportions, but behind the initial hype, he struggled. Oscar couldn't keep up the pretence, and by January that season, he disappeared.

Oscar had credit, of course. Visions of that debut drove the belief that the problems he faced in the second half of the season were simply down to his youth. Oscar's first goal against Juventus had been courtesy of a fortunate deflection off Leonardo Bonucci's trailing leg, but his second that night was simply sublime.

He had Pirlo in a twist, with the Italian off the pace and chasing shadows as Oscar turned him inside out to evade him on the edge of the box. He was only half-done; then came the whipped shot that had Gianluigi Buffon, of all goalkeepers, mastered.

It was those moments that convinced Chelsea fans. Oscar would mature; he would come good. But he hasn't. The same trend of early-season promise followed by midseason collapse has come to define him.

Just like Arsenal.

As recently as September, Oscar had Bleacher Report fooled with his early form under Conte. Formations and systems hadn't switched yet at this stage, but still, he looked to be one of the Blues' most promising players in this new era. "This is no false dawn," we claimed.

It turns out that it was; it turns out that Oscar duped us again in the same way Arsenal continue to do whenever they appear on the cusp on achieving something.

For all the scepticism purists will throw at the Chinese Super League, it's difficult for Chelsea to feel the same. Last January, they sold Ramires to Jiangsu Suning for £25 million, and now they're adding a sizeable £60 million to their coffers for Oscar.

Ramires enjoyed some early success before his decline at Chelsea, but as for Oscar, he simply hasn't delivered in the four-and-a-half years he has been at Stamford Bridge. Roman Abramovich must be rubbing his hands with glee as, after all, Chelsea are making a £40 million profit on a failed enterprise.

Oscar was supposed to be part of the new Chelsea that we were seeing develop on the back of the club's Champions League success in 2012. Andre Villas-Boas may have been and gone, yet Roberto Di Matteo was continuing in the same vein as his predecessor as the Blues attempted to phase out the older generation with a more fluid style in mind. They were building the club around diminutive types like Oscar and Eden Hazard.

When Di Matteo was sacked in November that year, his full-time replacement would be Jose Mourinho. It was a public admission that the club had failed. With Mourinho back, Chelsea were reverting to type—and it worked, with the Premier League title secured for a fourth time in 2015.

Even with Mourinho gone now, Conte is a manager who represents the same values. The methods may be different, but at their cores, Mourinho and Conte are very similar men in their ethos.

We've already seen the Italian putting things right on the pitch in his first 16 matches as boss. Now he's targeting the squad, with Oscar unsurprisingly a big casualty in the evolution.

There were highlights along the way for him at Chelsea, but all along Oscar has been a fraud. He never delivered anything like he promised he would.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes