Arsenal: Calum Chambers ready for a damn promotion

Arsenal’s sheriffs have a reliable deputy in Calum Chambers, but it’s high time for him to earn a promotion. The question isn’t when, it’s where?

The first time I really registered that Calum Chambers had what it took to be a Premier League centerback, it was in the midst of Leicester City’s charge to their Premier League title in 2016. Arsenal were playing them and Laurent Koscielny had gone down injured.

Chambers had been absent all season after his inaugural year as the go-to rightback, but he was called upon to stare down Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez and stop them from doing what they had done to so many others.

Chambers faced them both in one-on-one situations and stoned them both. He showed a steady feet and such an intelligent and calm mind, refusing to be driven around by fancy footwork.

Related Story: 5 Things Learned Against AC Milan

That was the last Chambers was seen of that year and the following year he was loaned out to Middlesbrough, where he became a central figure of a surprisingly stoic Boro defense, despite being constantly under fire and inevitably getting relegated.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Now, Chambers is back. He has been stepping in whenever called up on to do the job of a Premier League caliber defender and, Ostersunds aside, he has been simply fantastic.

Against AC  Milan, Chambers was called on in a similar capacity to spot Koscielny after a back injury claimed him in the 10th minute. Unsurprisingly, Chambers was his same resolute self, proving that the sheriffs in the Arsenal defense have arguably the best deputy they could ask for.

Chambers is at a point now where something has to be done, preferably before the end of the year. I’d hate to go into the summer with him still pondering if he can break into the team. Perhaps Koscielny’s injury will prove the opportunity that he needs to assert himself in the starting XI set-up, but honestly, he’s already done that.

The only thing Chambers needs now is the time and commitment of the team, because he stands right up there with Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi and, give him an extended run and I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t steal the spotlight more than he already has.

Next: Arsenal vs AC Milan Player Ratings

You can’t be a deputy forever. Whether than means opting back into a back three or giving him a realistic reward for upstaging the two incumbents, Chambers needs a promotion because he is bursting at the seams.