Arsene Wenger obviously has a very high opinion of the young Calum Chambers for him to persuade Arsenal to fork out 16m to prise the 19 year-old away from Southampton 18 months ago, and Le Prof seems to be training him up to be the Mr Versatile in the Gunners defence.
He played his first few games for Arsenal as a right-back but he was soon usurped by the improving Hector Bellerin, and he was then being used as a centre-back, and played many games in the first half of last season, until Kos and Mertesacker found full fitness, and when Gabriel arrived in January he was rarely seen outside of cup games.
In July at the beginning of this campaign Wenger said: “I want to develop Calum as a centre back and at the moment we have just the right number. He will get games here.” But the reality – so far – is that he has started just one League game this season, and both League Cup games, and came on as a sub in two Champions League games.
Now it is being reported that Chambers is now on a crash course to be the backup to Matthieu Flamini in the DM role, as it is unlikely that the 31 year-old will be able to play every game in the congested period from now until the New Year.
He is doing all his training now in that position and Chambers also played 90 minutes in midfield for the Under-21 side last week, and also played the last 10 minutes of the win against Sunderland. It is crucial now that Wenger gives him some playing time to prove that he is capable, but if he doesn’t make the grade then Wenger may be forced into the transfer market in January.
Personally I think he will be better in the DM role than he was at right-back, but can he really be adequate cover for Coquelin for the next three months?