by Lewis Ambrose

During Tuesday’s press conference Arsène Wenger dismissed a rumour linking Calum Chambers with a loan move away from the club.

Chambers signed for Arsenal a year ago on Tuesday and appeared in 36 games during his first season with Arsenal. During that time he impressed most at centre-half and has once again looked solid in that position over pre-season.

The Arsenal manager has now confirmed that he wants to keep the young defender at the club to give him time on the pitch and develop him as a centre-half. Chambers is still just 20 years old and has shown that he could become a superb defender in the future for club and country. 

 

Chambers had been linked with a move back to former club Southampton on loan but the Mirror have said Arsenal rejected an offer from the Saints to take the England international. Arsenal will hope to compete on more than one front in the coming season and a deep squad will be needed.

With January signing Gabriel seen as a similar player to Laurent Koscielny the hope is that Chambers will play with either the Brazilian or the Frenchman whenever Per Mertesacker is either rested or available. It is those combinations that work best with defenders relying on reading the game paired with more proactive players who like to attack the ball.

If Wenger is promising Chambers game time you imagine he is pencilled in as Mertesacker’s number two, rather than simply being the fourth choice centre-half overall.