Arsenal thought they hit the jackpot when they signed a young Calum Chambers from Southampton nearly a decade ago, but the move did not pan out as well as some hoped.
Arsene Wenger wanted to add a centre-back to his squad following the departure of Thomas Vermaelen in the summer of 2014, and caused a lot of surprise when Arsenal confirmed the signing of Chambers seemingly out of nowhere from the now-Championship side.
The then-teenager had made just 22 Premier League appearances in his career prior to his move, but stood out as a top-tier prospect in a Southampton team containing the likes of Luke Shaw and Morgan Schneiderlin.
However, after initially impressing, Chambers struggled in his Arsenal career, and embarked on a series of loan spells before moving to Aston Villa in 2022, a decision which Mikel Arteta has now arguably been vindicated for.
Arsenal caused “surprise” when they signed Calum Chambers
Chambers now looks set to leave Aston Villa after an underwhelming two years, and the 28-year-old now finds himself at a crossroads in his career.
A report from The Athletic, attempting to analyse where it went wrong for such a bright talent, has now revealed that Southampton were stunned when he pushed for his move to Arsenal at such a young age.
“Chambers’ decision was to join Arsenal, in a deal rising to £16million ($20.2m, €18.6m) with potential add-ons. Koeman’s disappointment was echoed by others inside Southampton who were surprised by the player’s willingness to leave so soon,” the report stated.
Arsenal had pushed for Chambers after just one season of senior football, and Southampton believed he would have been better off staying to develop, and perhaps their surprise has been somewhat justified.
Calum Chambers’ downfall came in his first season at Arsenal
Chambers is a case of wasted potential at Arsenal that often goes under the radar. The defender was initially a right-back at Southampton, but Wenger could see his potential in the middle.
He started his Arsenal career as a centre-back, and instantly impressed, with new signing Mathieu Debuchy on the right. However, injuries to centre-back Laurent Koscielny, and Debuchy at the same time, completely disrupted Wenger’s defence.
Nacho Monreal was played as a makeshift centre-half, and Chambers was pushed back out wide, and it was clear that he preferred the centre. A defeat away at Swansea saw the Englishman suffer a nightmare time as winger Jefferson Montero beat him for pace on countless occasions.
Hector Bellerin then broke through as a right-back, and Chambers was taken out of the team having initially played too much, too soon.
His confidence as a right-back had been shattered, and the signing of Gabriel Paulista had solved Wenger’s problem at centre-back.
He was hardly able to put together a run of games at Arsenal in the years that followed, despite some impressive loan spells away. At the start of Arteta’s reign, he picked up a long-term injury, and despite a brief period back at right-back, he fell out of the Spaniard’s plans and ultimately departed.
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