Arsenal: Centre-back confusion requires Calum Chambers

The future of Arsenal’s centre-back position is highly uncertain. As a result, Calum Chambers should be starting this season, just to see what he could one day be.

When Arsenal entered the summer transfer window, they had a series of positions that were eager to invest in and address. Because of their financial restrictions, there were only so many areas in the squad that the club could address. You cannot solve every problem in one transfer window.

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And so, they prioritised certain positions. A speedy wide attacker became the number one need, £72 million eventually shelled out on Nicolas Pepe. Then there was left-back, Kieran Tierney the selected solution. Dani Ceballos arrived as an Aaron Ramsey replacement, while Gabriel Martinelli continued the investment in youth.

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Amidst all of this spending was the centre-back position. Arsenal would have wanted to invest more heavily at centre-back, but they prioritised other positions and recognised the opportunity to sign an 18-year-old William Saliba on the cheap, even if it meant they had to endure another season with lacking central defensive options. And that is what has happened. Essentially, the Gunners said, ‘we will patch up the centre-back position for now and reassess next summer’.

What this means is that for this season, they should be doing everything they can to work out where each of their individual central defenders stand in respect to being future options. For instance, could Sokratis be a starting option for the next two or three years? What about the newly acquired David Luiz? These are the types of questions that Unai Emery should be trying to find as much evidence to answer this season.

This specifically pertains to Calum Chambers, who is one of the trickier players to analyse. Fulham’s Player of the Season was presumed to have slipped down the pecking order after he was sent out on loan summer while Rob Holding and Dinos Mavropanos remained at the Emirates. However, upon his return, Chambers has been excellent, even if those displays have come in relief at right-back.

While Chambers’ versatility is a major benefit and makes him a useful squad player to keep around, if he is to ever earn a starting role for himself, it will come at centre-back, not right-back — or even central midfield, where he impressed for Fulham last season. But very few of Chambers’ outings have come at centre-back. No one really knows how good a centre-back he is, or isn’t.

Could Chambers become a starting centre-back for a top-four Premier League team? Probably not, but there is no proof to say that it is not possible. And so, it is the responsibility of Emery to find out, which is especially pertinent given the lack of certainty at the position beyond this season.

What Chambers can offer this year and beyond, no one really knows. But for exactly that reason, he should be starting. I will not, however, be holding my breath.