Arsenal: Is Calum Chambers making his move?

Calum Chambers started ahead of Sokratis just prior to the international break. Now Arsenal and the Premier League return, is he ready to make his move and claim a first-team spot?

You would be forgiven for believing that Calum Chambers’ loan to Fulham was the death knell of his Arsenal career. Unai Emery had only just arrived at the club, Sokratis was signed to provide an experienced starting option, while Rob Holding and even Dinos Mavropanos were viewed as superior long-term prospects to the former Southampton defender.

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Chambers might have been sold, had there been a more substantial market for him, but as it were, Emery settled on a season-long loan at a Premier League club where he would, in theory, play on a weekly basis at centre-half.

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By the end of the season, Chambers settled in central midfield. Playing the holding role, he displayed excellent passing range, technical quality, and grit and attitude for a team that was relegated long before the close of the season. Chambers was named Fulham’s Player of the Year for his performances, but when he returned to north London in the summer, his future at the club was again in doubt.

He survived the transfer window, largely because Mavropanos had hardly played the season before and showed little progression when he did and Holding was still rehabilitating from an ACL tear. Emery needed Chambers. But after an excellent start to the campaign, Emery not only needed Chambers; he wanted him, first using him in Hector Bellerin’s stead at right-back, ahead of prior deputy Ainsley Maitland-Niles and then, most tellingly, starting him at centre-back in place of Sokratis, the very man who was signed such that Chambers would not be needed two summers ago.

In the 2-0 defeat to Leicester City before the international break, Chambers’ inclusion ahead of Sokratis might well have been because Emery shifted to a back three and his greater athleticism and experience of playing full-back makes him better-suited to the right centre-back in a back three. However, when Emery reverted to a back four late on, Chambers remained on the pitch, partnering presumed number one, David Luiz.

And so, as the Premier League returns to the fore this weekend, Arsenal hosting Southampton on Saturday afternoon, Chambers might well be in line to make his first start as a centre-back in a back four since the opening-day victory against Newcastle United. It remains to be seen whether Emery will persist with Chambers, especially with Holding, the third centre-half against Leicester, another two weeks removed from his recovery, but if he does, this is Chambers’ chance to stake his claim at a starting spot.

Ever since Arsene Wenger acquired him in a £16 million move five years ago, there has been a tentative anticipation that Chambers would one day be half of Arsenal’s starting centre-half partnership. That has never quite developed, never really getting an extended run of games at the position, often used a versatile depth piece who can cover a lot of areas. But this might finally be the chance he has been waiting so long for.

Chambers has been one of Arsenal’s best defenders this season. He is enjoying a strong start to the campaign, despite rarely playing in his best position. Because of those performances, he might now finally be given the chance to earn a starting centre-back spot. Chambers is making his move, but can he take advantage?