I was getting a little concerned about the young Arsenal and England international star Calum Chambers and his place in the current Gunners side and I would not be surprised if the graduate from the Southampton academy had not been thinking the same at times this summer.
Chambers hardly featured for Arsenal towards the end of last season and then was a mere spectator for the under 21 Euro championships which saw Gareth Southgate´s England side blow it and crash out of a tournament early once again.
With Hector Bellerin and Mathieu Debuchy fighting hard for the starting right back role it was hard to see how Chambers would get a look in without another injury crisis. But Arsene Wenger had already suggested that the centre of defence might be the youngster´s future position and he did play him there at times last season, with varying degrees of success.
It did look like it might take some time for him to settle into his new role though, and with Mertesacker, KOscielny and Gabriel in the squad and many expecting the boss to sign another centre back this summer, Chambers may have thought he would not be seeing much action this season, but pre-season has certainly changed that perception, for me at least. And with The Mirror reporting that Wenger has declared that interested clubs can forget about getting him on loan this year, it appears I am not alone.
The 20-year old has looked calm and assured alongside Koscielny as we beat Everton to lift the Asia Trophy and paired up with Gabriel against Wolfsburg as we lifted the Emirates Cup. Perhaps the presence of Petr Cech behind him in both those games helped and it was nerves that had been his biggest negative point when played in the middle last season.
Chambers is looking good. He defends on the front foot and looks sharp, aggressive and his reading of the games has been impressive. It seems clear that the right side of defence would be Chambers´ usual position so has our BFG got a real battle on his hands with the young Gunner this season?