Arsenal: Calum Chambers Crystal Palace transfer downright stupid

Arsenal are supposedly negotiating with Crystal Palace to sell Calum Chambers, which is perhaps one of the stupidest ideas conjured up this summer.

Arsenal spent a lot of money bringing a young Calum Chambers to the Emirates – about £16m. He was used as a right back, which proved to be foolish, as a career at center back was waiting for him. But even in spite of the price and the somewhat rough beginning, the promise has always been there.

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He was John Stones before it was cool. Sorry, John Pebbles.

Now, however, that career may quickly be derailing for literally no reason as the Guardian (one of the few trusted sources out there) is reporting that Crystal Palace and Arsenal are nearing a permanent deal to see Chambers abandon the Emirates for Selhurst Park.

While the Telegraph reports that that initial £16m bid was rejected and the Gunners will seek a fee closer to £20m, the Guardian’s report resonates that this is a dialogue, not just a one-off bid.

And all I can do is sit here and shake my head.

It’s Wojciech Szczesny and Serge Gnabry all over again. Here you have a player who made an initial impact at the club and then faded a bit. You sent him out on loan to improve him so he could make another go at the first team and then you never given him that chance. With Szczesny, sure, we moved on while he was on loan (although there was still room for him).

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With Gnabry, sure, you did all you could to get him to stay.

But Chambers makes no sense. The club hasn’t moved on. They run three at the back meaning Chambers wouldn’t just be a fluff for security, he would be needed. And with both Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker up there in age, and the BFG retiring next year, integrating a defender now is crucial.

Oh, and Chambers is already integrated. He was a stalwart for Middlesbrough last year and even before that he was making a resurgence on the Arsenal defensive line. There is nothing to gain by selling him and all to lose.

Maybe Krystian Bielik is nearing first-team contention, that’s great, but we will be losing two big time defenders soon, meaning we will need two replacements and if they can be ready to go as soon as they are needed, why wouldn’t you take that over the need to shop for a replacement?

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Maybe Virgil van Dijk is right around the corner. Who knows. It just doesn’t make sense to part with talent before that talent is allowed to really express itself.

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