6 Arsenal alternatives for Thomas Partey in midfield

Calum Chambers

Oh yeah, him!

Is this where the situation has come to? Suggesting that a central defender who started his career out at right-back and played one season as a holding midfielder in a woeful Fulham side is a genuine option? Absolutely not.

However, the decision to send both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock out on loan, leaving four options in central midfield, one of whom is repeatedly injured, one who is reliable enough but sorely lacking in some departments and two who haven’t been able to produce on a regular basis must’ve been done with a contingency plan in mind. Could that man be Calum Chambers?

No.

Just because he won Player of the Season in a Cottagers side that shipped 81 goals and won just two matches against sides outside of the bottom five (they were Bournemouth and Burnley who finished 14th and 15th respectively) does not mean he can suddenly play there. It especially doesn’t mean he can start his first Premier League match since December 2019.

Is there any intrigue as to how he’d do? Sure, yeah, there is. But this isn’t the time nor the place to be testing that theory. Except if a few more players fall foul to injury in which case the hands are firmly tied.