Tag Archives: Calum Chambers

2 IN; 3 OUT at Arsenal

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With the transfer window slamming shut on Thursday, all has been quiet at Arsenal surrounding who is potentially coming in.

With the transfer window still be open throughout Europe until the end of the month, we will probably not see a mass exodus of players this week, however it will be the last chance for English clubs to bring anyone in.

In a surprising deal, it looks like Calum Chambers is set to join Fulham on a season long loan deal.

There was plenty of speculation that Chambers was going to join the West London club earlier in the summer. But a new contract and reports that Unai Emery was impressed in the Englishman seemed to quash that deal.

One of the few players to have played every game in pre-season, Chambers departure is very surprising, especially considering the long-term injury to Laurent Koscielny.

At the back end of last season, he was ahead of Rob Holding and Kostadinos Mavropanos, and this pre-season has played more minutes than the pair. He was clearly 3rd choice centre back, and also provided additional cover at right back.

He will be 24-years-old in January and has already had a season long loan deal to Middlesbrough. It just feels like a strange move. The only reasoning is that someone else is coming in.

Lucas Perez has been like a yoyo this summer. Early indications were that Emery was going to give him a second chance. He failed to start any of our 5 pre-season games

Both Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson started three games a-piece and looked good. Emery seems to have decided to give them more chances in the first team squad at the sacrifice of 29-year-old Perez.

Perez was not even in the match day squad for the games against Chelsea in Dublin or Lazio in Stockholm. He has been heavily linked with the latter (Lazio) and more recently West Ham.

Having been at the World Cup, David Ospina was already facing a handicap when it came to the battle with Petr Cech to be new signing Bernd Leno’s competition.

Leno stared 3 out of 5, with Cech starting the other two.

With Cech having one-year left on his contract, he seems content to stay in London where has been for 14 years and the city where his children have grown up, regardless of being number 2.

That leaves Ospina as the man most likely to leave.

He has been linked with a move to Turkey every since his second season with Arsenal; and it seems this year will be when it finally happens. Some outlets are reporting it is a loan deal, others a permanent deal. £2,000,000 the mooted feed.

The only logical reason for Chambers to be leaving is that we are going to make a last minute signing at centre back.

There has been massive speculation this morning that Arsenal are in for Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng.

Emery has been quoted a few times saying that “if something special becomes available, we will be in for him”. Could Boateng be that something special?

The reported £45million fee is relatively cheap in the current transfer market. Arsenal would be getting one of the best 5 centre backs in the world who, at 29-years-old, would add experience and power at the back.

The only concern would be his injury record. In the last few years, he has started to accrue a few muscle injuries.

He nearly missed the World Cup after a hamstring injury and did not look 100% during Germany’s early exit. He also suffered a hamstring injury in 2017, and has failed to play 20 Bundesliga games in the last 3 seasons.

Munich could be looking to cash in on someone who is broken, and will never be repaired. Alternatively Arsenal could end up with a top centre back with another 4 seasons in him.

There is also an outside chance that Arsenal could bring in Ousmane Dembele on loan, with the possibility of a permanent deal if Aaron Ramsey leaves.

Reports have claimed that the 21-year-old has been concerned over his role at Barcelona following the eclub’s decision to sign Brazilian winger Malcom from Bordeaux this summer.

Dembele has been heavily linked with a switch to Arsenal this summer as he still has a strong relationship with the Gunners’ head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, who he knows from his time at Dortmund. Last week, Dembele was also pictured having dinner with several members of Arsenal’s squad including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Reports from Spain are that Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has personally assured Ousmane Dembele that he still has a future at the club, goning out of his way to speak to the France international.

All in all, bar the Chambers deal going through today, it will likely be a quiet week for Arsenal, with Perez and Ospina set to move closer towards the end of August.

Keenos

Calum Chambers new contract ends search for new defender

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Late on Friday Arsenal fans were hit by a bit of a surprise with the news that Calum Chambers was  set to sign a new four-year deal with the club.

It came as a surprise to many for two reasons:

  • Many fans expected him to leave the club, with newly promoted Fulham “extremely interested”.
  • He only actually signed a new 2-year extension in October 2017.

That new 2-year deal was more seen at the time as Arsenal protecting their investment, rather than because they wanted to keep the player until 2021.

At the time he had just 18 months left on his contract, meaning Arsenal would have had to sell him on the cheap this summer. The new deal meant that come this summer, he would still have 3 years remaining and Arsenal could turn a profit on the player.

In the back end of last season, Chambers showed good form as he was bought into the Arsenal first team as players were rested for the Europa League.

It seems this form impressed incoming manager Unai Emery, who sanctioned the new deal taking him through to 2022.

Emery reportedly has high hopes for the Englishman, who is still just 23, and hopes that he will be competing alongside Shkdoran Mustafi and incoming new boy Sokratis next season.

What the new deal does mean, however, is it is unlikely that Arsenal will pursue either Caglar Soyuncu or Benjamin Pavard.

Both of these will be put on the back burner for 12 months as Emery gives Mustafi the chance to imrpvoe under his defensive coaching, and sees the progression of Chambers and Rob Holding – who signed a new deal last summer.

Keenos

Arsenal can not risk a repeat of Sebastien Squillaci

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I have long held the opinion that Arsenal will only sign one centre back this summer.

With Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Calum Chambers, Rob  Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos set to be joined in Islington by Sokratis Papastathopoulos, 7 into 2 does not go.

There is an argument that we should sell to buy. That Shkodran Mustafi will leave the club and be replaced, but this does not make me comfortable.

The two names heavily linked are Caglar Soyuncu and Benjamin Pavard, both 22.

With Laurent Koscielny out injured until 2019, it would be very risky to try and integrate a new first choice centre back pairing without having senior back up.

Buying from a new country is always uncertain, even somewhere like Germany where the style and quality of football is very similar to the Premier League.

If Arsenal made the decision to try and integrate Sokratis alongside either Soyuncu or Pavard, without having a senior back up, the risks would be great.

If one struggles to settle – like when Sebastien Squillaci flopped upon moving from Spain (he was just 30-years-old at the time), we need to ensure we have adequate back up. Holding, Chambers and Mavropanos are not adequate back up.

The summer we signed Squillaci, we also secured the services of Laurent Koscielny.

The French pair were added to a squad that contained Thomas Vermaalen and Johan Djourou.

The Belgian had been at the club for a year (and had not yet broken down) and Djourou at 23 was showing himself to be one of the best young centre backs in the league.

In Squillaci we secured an experienced French international. Laurent Koscielny a bit of a risk – 24-years-old with just a single year of top flight football to his name.

However we could take that risk as we had Vermaalen in the squad.

Low-and-behold, Vermaalen broke down – playing just 5 games, and Squillaci failed to keep up with the pace of the game. This left us relying on Koscielny and Djoruou. The pair playing 80 games between them.

Now picture the scene.

Koscielny is out injured until 2019. Sokratis comes in and his Arsenal career replicates that of Squillaci. He flops.

We have sold Mustafi to make room for the new lad – lets say Soyuncu – and all of a sudden we are playing a 22 year old in his first season in England alongside Calum Chambers. And what happens if we get hit by the double wammy? That Soyuncu (or Pavard) also struggles?

At least with Mustafi, we know what we have. We might not be 100% sure on him, but he has been in England for 2 years, and would provide some sort of consistency.

And with Hector Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis and Saed Kolasinac not at the World Cup, they will get a full 8 weeks with Unai emery being coached, organised, and taught how to defend.

However, whilst watching France v Australia, and seeing Pavard play for the first team, a solution came to mind.

With both Pavard and Soyuncu being 22, they would not be getting signed for now, but also with one eye on the future – the next 8 – 10 years.

Last season Arsenal played 60 games. This season I imagine it will be similar.

That means there is plenty of game time to justify paying the money for a new, young centre back.

Instead of coming in to partner Sokratis, they will be coming in to compete with Mustafi to partner him.

They struggle to settle straight away, it means the senior partnership of Mustafi and Sokratis starts. If they come in and fly, it would mean that Mustafi is relegate to that second choice.

But this would still leave us with 7 centre backs for 2 positions.

We can write off Koscielny. January 2019 is the earliest he will be back to fitness. And that is if there are no complications with his Achilles injury. It would not be too much of a surprise to me if we never see him in an Arsenal shirt again – with his contract expiring in 2020.

That means we still need to shed one. Either Chambers, Holding or Mavropanos.

Reports are that Fulham are interested in Calum Chambers, with prices mooted about of £20m.

Watching Pavard play, out of position at right back, he certainly looks like an upgrade on the Englishman. Soyuncu is as well.

By trading in Chambers for £20m, and signing one of the others for £35m seems like a good deal. An additional £15m spent on a better player.

We would then have Mustafi and Sokratis as first choice centre backs, and Soyuncu / Pavard alongside Rob Holding as the second string players, getting game time in the League Cup and Europa League.

A lot of people will now be moaning about Mavropanos.

Let’s remember he is still just 20-years-old and people calling for him to be considered after just 3 games need to give him the chance.

I would rather Mavropanos remain in and around the squad for the first 6 months, giving us a 5th centre back option. Then if Koscielny does return in 2019, Mavropanos perhaps go’s out on loan for the rest of the season.

That will then leave us with 5 options going into 2019/21.

Sokratis (who will then be 31), Soyuncu / Pavard (23), Mustafi (27), Holding (23) & Mavropanos (21)

A decision could then be made next summer on the future of Mustafi.

If he steps up to the plate and improves alongside a consistent leader like Sokratis, he stays. If he shows himself adequate enough (and is happy being) 3rd choice centre back, that is fine as well.

If he fails to improve, and Arsenal decide to cash in, they at least then know about Sokratis and the new guy, and if one hasn’t fully settled, look to buy another centre back next summer.

Whilst I am still not comfortable someone coming in this summer to replace Mustafi in the summer, I am certainly not against bringing in someone who will bridge the skills gap between Holding / Chambers / Mavropanos and Sokratis, even if that means that one of the 3 youngsters ends up making way.

Keenos