Tag Archives: Calum Chambers

Arsenal set to SELL up to 11 senior players (and none are Ozil or Sanchez)

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In recent weeks, the big transfer news at Arsenal has been about the contract situations of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

It has been well written by many that both have 18 months left on their contract and are currently stalling on negotiations. Some say they are waiting on Arsene Wenger to declare his future, or for it to be announced who his replacement might be, others say they are driven by money, with rumours of a $400,000 offer on the table from China – I always laugh that the offer is ‘from China’ without mentioning a particular club.

Some say that want to ensure they are playing for a competitive club, and will wait to see if we do challenge (and win) the title, whilst Ian Wright thinks they will both sign, but will do in the summer where they will be worth even more if they take Arsenal to the title.

The future of both is concerning for all Arsenal fans, but there are another 11 senior players who’s future at the club might not be bright. And entire starting XI could leave Arsenal this summer.

David Ospina has been linked away from Arsenal ever since Petr Cech joined. Currently the clubs Champions League keeper, he is also likely to play in the FA Cup in the New Year. The Colombian will be 29 next season, entering the peak for a goal keeper. Would he really want to spend his best years sitting on Arsenal’s bench?

The writing is also on the wall for Carl Jenkinson. The boyhood Arsenal fan looks like a deer in headlights every time he puts on an Arsenal shirt. He is good enough to be 2nd choice right back behind Hector Bellerin, but in his own head, Arsenal are too big for him. His demise from one of West Ham’s best players a few years ago has been incredible.

When Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy started against Bournemouth, some were surprised he was still at the club. His contract does not expire until 2019, but with injuries now piling up, and reports of a poor attitude at times, if he is not sold next summer, he will surely be sent out on loan.

Per Mertesacker. The big German. The captain. His contract runs out at the end of the year and there has been no talk about him getting a new one. With the form of Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny, and the development of Rob Holding, Arsenal no longer require his services. He will be able to get himself a nice big contract back in Germany.

After a season of poor form, Arsenal will surely sign a stronger left back than either Nacho Monreal or Kieran Gibbs. With Gibbs being younger and English, and Monreal’s future potentially tied to that of best mate Santi Cazorla (more later), it is the Spaniard who will make way.

Another on borrowed time is Calum Chambers. After a brilliant start to his Arsenal career where he looked like an assured, ball playing centre back, he has gone backwards. Part of this is due to him being played in multiple positions – a bit like Phil Jones at Man U – and part of it due to not getting enough game time. He has made 10 appearances for Middlesborough this season but has been outshone by fellow youngster Ben Gibson. With Rob Holding also at the club, Arsenal will struggle to give to young centre backs enough time to develop. He might be saved by the fact Debuchy & Jenkinson are likely to go, meaning Arsenal need a back up right back.

Santi Cazorla has already played his last game for Arsenal Football Club in my opinion. Now 32, with 18 months of poor injuries behind (and head) of him, his contract runs out at the end of this season. I can not see Arsenal offering him any more than a new 1 year deal. Something that Cazorla will surely not accept. He has spoken previously about finishing his career at Spain, and that time has come. And he will take Nacho Monreal with him.

Another who’s Arsenal career is almost certainly over his Jack Wilshere. Playing once a week for Bournemouth does not mean he is good enough to play twice a week for Arsenal. He clearly enjoys the sea air, a lower intensity of life, and time away from his trouble making friends. Bournemouth are able to manage his work load in a way that a big club like Arsenal are unable to facilitate. Arsenal need fit players playing twice a week. Wilshere does not fit the bill.

Joel Campbell is out on loan at Sporting. With the development of Alex Iwobi, nothing will change for Campbell next year. He will still be surplus to requirements, and will either be loaned once more, or sold.

Homegrown striker Chuba Akpom is at a cross roads in his career. He has not progressed from talented youngster to senior superstar. 4 average loan deals, and Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck and Lucas Perez ahead of him, there will be no chance for him to break through in the future.

Lastly we come to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Whilst everyone is going on about Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez’s contract coming to an end in 2018, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s also does. Another player at a cross roads in his career, he has never really secured a place in Arsenal’s starting XI. He is getting a run now, a chance to prove himself, but if he fails to impose himself on games consistently, he might have to look elsewhere next summer, take a step down to get regular football.

 

Arsenal could end up off loading an entire XI. I wonder how this lot would get on in the Premier League:

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Keenos

Arsenal set for busy end to transfer window

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The transfer window will slam shut on Wednesday at 11.30pm. Less than 60 hours to go. And in that 60 hours, Arsenal still have a lot of work to do.

Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez

The deals are all but done for Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez. Fees agreed, contracts signed, medicals reportedly completed. All we are waiting for his the FA to reopen Tuesday morning so that we can send across the official paperwork, and the deal is then signed, sealed and completed.

I would imagine as I am writing this, both players are at London Colney and/or the stadium getting their promo photos done. Arsenal might even announce both deals today before they have been full ratified by the FA.

Mustafi has been called up for Germany’s friendly game against Finland on 31 August 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Norway on 4 September 2016. Perez unsurprisingly not selected for Spain.

Both Mustafi and Perez will be able to use the international break in different ways to gain full match sharpness and be ready for the home game against Southampton on September 10th.

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Defenders Loaned Out

The exit door could be very busy at London Colney over the next 60 hours with numerous players slated to be loaned out.

Arsenal are ready to allow Mathieu Debuchy to depart the club. Most likely on a season-long loan. A reported calf injury could hamper the deal, but a club will likely take a gamble and get the French international in. His destination likely to be somewhere in Turkey, or the mid-lower reaches of Italy’s Serie A.Mathieu+Debuchy+Calum+Chambers+Manchester+a7sYRe78Nyrl

Also exiting will be Calum Chambers. Since his breakthrough 2 seasons ago, he has struggled to nail a place in the team, mainly down to lack of playing time. He needs to go somewhere in the Premier League and play a season at centreback. We will want him to go somewhere where he will be guaranteed to play every game. Hull and Middlesbrough seem like the front runners.

Letting both go would leave Arsenal with just one recognised right back whilst Carl Jenkinson recovers from his injury, but Mustafi has played at right back before for both club and country. I would also imagine a deal for Chambers would involve a recall clause.

Major Exit?

Could we see Theo Walcott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leave the club over the next few days?

Serge Gnabry

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The next out of the door could be Serge Gnabry. Top scorer for Germany at the Olympics, he was in impressive form. But is there a place for him at Arsenal?

With Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi & new boy Lucas Perez ahead of him, he will struggle for game time.

One thing Arsenal have to take into account is his contract. It expires at the end of this season. the club would probably prefer a loan deal for the barley-21 German star, but that would open the risk of losing him for nothing at the end of the season if we do not tie him down to a new contract.

Arsenal might be willing to cut their losses with Gnabry and sell for a cut price deal.

He will end up in Germany, whether on loan or a permanent deal.

David Ospina

I began writing this thinking we might see David Ospina make the surprise move to Barcelona to provide competition for Marc-André ter Stegen, replacing Claudio Bravo. But they have already secured Jasper Cillessen. That door is now closed, but it would not surprise me if someone came in for a late bid for the Colombian, with the offer of first team football.

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Minor Loan Deals

The likes of Yaya Sanogo, Chuba Akpom and Jeff Reine-Adelaide could well see themselves also exit the club in loan deals.

With the changes to the loan system coming into place, we can not think that we will keep Akpom and The Jeff to play against Nottingham Forest before loaning them out. A decision will have to be made on them in the coming days.

As for Sanogo, any loan deal will be an option, or we might just put him down and turn him into glue.

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Late Madness

It has been the slogan of our summer after a Twitter ITK tweeted that Arsenal were going to do a madness.

So far the predictions that we would smash our transfer record has not happened, but you feel that if all the domino’s fall into place, we could see one more final transfer on the last day of the season.

Could Arsenal take advantage of Daniel Sturridge’s unhappiness under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool? Or a move for long term linked Antoine Griezmann or Julian Draxler? Or maybe a big money move for James Rodgriguez or Isco? Or will Dimitri Payet become Arsene Wengers man?

We have the money there, we could still make a late move for someone.

Keenos

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Who in Arsenal’s 2nd XI is pushing for a first team spot?

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To have and to hold.

That was the front page of the Arsenal programme yesterday for the FA Cup match against Burnley.

Despite the talk within the programme, and by Arsene Wenger and players before the game about how important the FA Cup and winning 3 in a row, the game ended up being used to play players who had not played much recently. Either whether they were returning from injuries, or players considered 2nd team.

In the past, Wenger has always said that he puts out a team that he thinks can win the game. Against Sunderland, he put out a stronger team than yesterday, due to the calibre of the opposition. Yesterday, just 4 first teamers made the starting line up, 2 of those coming back from injury.

So how did the second string get on? Did any of them do enough to push themselves into Arsene Wenger’s faults for the next few games?

David Ospina – Looked nervy. Looked unsure of himself. A few good saves, but his distribution came across as someone who was questioning his own decision. He often missed the quick break away, as if he was scared of messing it up. A good keeper. But not Cech good.

Calum Chambers – Take the goal out of it, which was a very good finish, he showed again that he just is not a right back. His lack of pace means he will continually get roasted by average wingers who knock the ball past him and run. He was exposed a few times against Burnley. At just 21, he clearly is a class player, but he needs games. In 2014, you would have had him alongside John Stones as the future of England’s defence. Stones has played, Chambers hasn’t. One is now going to the Euro’s, the other will be sunning himself in Spain. Maybe needs a loan deal next season to play 38 league games at centre back.

Gabriel – A competent performance, and it certainly would put a thought into Wenger’s mind as to whether he should be given a chance alongside Laurent Koscielny at centre back. The worry would be is that in defence, it is about the partnership, not the individual. Are Koscielny & Gabriel too similar? Would it be like when Koscielny & Vermaelen played together? Both aggressive centre backs who like to attack the ball up the pitch. I have a feeling Per Mertesacker will be back in.

Kieran Gibbs – For me, Gibbs was man of the match. He shone in the match. We know he is a quality full back, especially when we are attacking. He was a danger on the left hand side, playing almost more like a winger rather than a full back. Recently, he has been out of form. When he has started, or when he has come off the bench, he looked completely out of touch. Yesterday he looked sharp. Whilst he will not be taking Nacho Monreal’s place anytime soon. It will be good to know that once more we have the two best left backs in the league

Mohamed Elneny – I have seen people go to both ends of the spectrum. Some saying he was awful. And some saying he is the new Patrick Vieira. Let’s be honest. Both are wrong. When we signed him, I saw him described as tidy, efficient, unexceptional. And that is how he performed. He seemed to be everywhere, without being anywhere. And that is the key in the position he plays. Doing a lot of the unnoticed work. Keeping the ball moving. It was very reminiscent to Mikel Arteta before he had his legs stolen. Over 100 touches of the ball (more than any other player), he was busy. We have a good player here. enough to put pressure on Coquelin? Not yet. But certainly in the future he will.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – A good performance by Chamberlain. He has now been involved in our last 13 fixtures – starting 5 of the last 7, maybe he is finally getting a run that will hopefully see him improve. Of course, it was only Burnley, and Arsenal were attacking 90% of the time. But most of what Arsenal did well went through him. He also stuck to the right hand side for the majority of the game, rather than coming inside. And the pass that put Theo Walcott through was exquisite. With Joel Campbell running out of steam, Alexis Sanchez still returning from injury, and Theo Walcott being out of form and shot of confidence, I expect Oxlade-Chamberlain to start the next few games.

Alex Iwobi – I am really not sure what to think of Alex Iwobi. I do not know whether to rate him, or whether to not. He is still just a kid – just 19 – and he clearly has ability, there is just something about him that I do not like. Maybe it is his running style, he is a flurry of arms and legs. Or maybe it is he has a really tentative touch and pass. I do not know. But he performed well. Seem to revel in the free role behind Olivier Giroud allowing him to pop up right, left and centre. Obviously he will not be pushing Mesut Ozil for a starting place any time soon, but let’s loan him out to a Premier League side till the end of the season, see how he gets on (just not to WBA).

Subs;
Tomas Rosicky look tidy, got injured
Mikel Arteta will probably rarely be seen in an Arsenal shirt again

 

We are through, and that is the important thing. Looking at the teams still in the draw, it is anyone and everyone in football. An away trip to Leeds for the travelling fan will be nice, a home game against Shrewsbury for those who want the glory. Hopefully we avoid the big boys, and they all get each other.

Have a good Sunday

Keenos

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