Arsenal: It’s amazing how much Calum Chambers could solve

Arsenal have not given Calum Chambers a fair chance at any of this, but it’s truly amazing what they can still get out of him if they want it.

When I’m not ranting about the irreplaceability of Granit Xhaka, I can be found here, talking about the missed opportunity that Calum Chambers has been at Arsenal. This may or may not be my last sermon about the merits of Chambers before the loan officially runs out in June.

Here you have a young, versatile defender who has proven himself twice now lower down the table and in what little capacity he could here at the Emirates.

I’ve spent the past week talking about what the Gunners are going to be looking for and what they are going to need out of internal solutions, because it’s a bit unrealistic to expect them to buy everything they need this summer. That just isn’t going to happen.

There are certain names that we obviously need quite a bit out of – Rob Holding, Reiss Nelson, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emile Smith Rowe, just to name a few.

But when you throw Calum Chambers into that mix, you see a lot of really strong prospects that may be able to do more than we expect.

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Arsenal need defensive help this year, but they also need midfield help. And as we saw this year, Calum Chambers now ticks both those boxes. The one thing he needed from us was consistent playing time, which we were, are the time, unable to give him, though in all likelihood we actually could of had we known what was going to happen with Holding.

Chambers can help solidify the base of this midfield which, even with Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi, has lacked. It was honestly at it’s best with three midfielders in the base, which, when you drop Chambers in there, suddenly has a heck of a lot more strength and presence, as well as defensive chops.

The only question that remains is if Chambers can get the playing time that he needs to continue his development. Boro gave it to him, Fulham gave it to him. And he’s far better off because of it. And, despite the results, those two respective teams were the better off because of it too.

Count on Chambers to fill some gaps. It worked at the end of last year, it can work again this coming year.