Arsenal: Will Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Crack England's Euro 2012 Roster?

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, all of 18 years, has enjoyed a sort of amethyst daze over the course of these past two weeks, where he has seen his stock skyrocket after a string of impressive performances for club and country.

Goals against Shrewsbury Town (Carling Cup) and Olympiakos (Champions League) for Arsenal, coupled with an impressive hat trick Thursday for England's U-21 side against Iceland have caught the eye of current senior England national team manager Fabio Capello, who told FATV in an article for ESPN:

"I have been impressed with him," Capello said. "He is a good player, who has a lot quality and is playing at a really high level. He will be a really interesting player for the next friendly games before the Euro[pean Championships], which hopefully will happen for us."

Oxlade-Chamberlain certainly caught Stewart Robson's eye during the Olympiakos tie.

The former Arsenal man (1981-86), was effusive in his praise for the young England winger throughout the match, pointing out his impressive movement and biting turn of pace as two factors that changed the game in favor of the Gunners.

The young man has also earned the backing of Pat Rice, Arsene Wenger's second-in-command at the club.

"Alex can go inside, he can go outside, he's got that injection of pace and I think what he needs now is to be consistent in his play. I am sure that is something he will be working on because he's certainly not a stupid boy."

"He has good people around him and they are telling him all the right things."

With Capello looking to infuse England's talented youthful generation with the elder guard before next summer's European Championships, there is a definite possibility that Oxlade-Chamberlain could factor into his plans.

Players like Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, synonymous with any England selection over the past seven years, have all entered their 30s, and could begin to cede their places to the upcoming crop.

A decision to bring Lampard on as a substitute against Bulgaria last month seemed to validate this trend.

Capello has stayed true to his word ahead of England's crucial fixture against Montenegro, adding Leighton Baines, Kyle Walker, Adam Johnson, Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck to his 24-member side.

Some of those just mentioned have been in the setup for the better part of a year now (Young, Downing, Johnson), but it is true that a shift has begun toward integrating England's younger players in favor of its older guard.

Theo Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain's Arsenal colleague who also plays on the right wing, has been a regular at that position for England during Capello's tenure as manager (well, besides that whole World Cup 2010 thing), and has been named in the side to face Montenegro.

Should Oxlade-Chamberlain continue his impressive run of form, and put in quality performances during England's upcoming international friendlies, he may give the native Italian manager something to think about when deciding upon whom to play at right wing.