When Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger brought in Calum Chambers from Southampton for a fee potentially rising to £16 million in 2014, many fans of the north London club were a bit surprised.  After all, at just 19-years-old, Chambers was one of the five most expensive transfers in the club’s history at the time of the deal.  While most would assume that a player of that price would be a proven player (keep in mind that this was in 2014), Chambers was anything but.

The £16 million price tag was roughly the same the Gunners spent on established internationals Santi Cazorla and Danny Welbeck.  Nevertheless, the former Southampton product did show flashes of brilliance during his freshman campaign with Arsenal.  Chambers appeared in 36 total matches during the 2014/15 season, including 23 Premier League games.  Although his first season in north London was a success, Chambers seemingly endured a bit of a sophomore slump last season.

One factor of this downturn was the fact that Chambers has not had a real set position.  While he almost always featured at right back for Southampton as a teenager, the defender’s lack of pace was exposed multiple times at the position for Arsenal (most infamously going up against Swansea City’s Jefferson Montero).  During the 2015/16 campaign, Chambers was deployed five times at right back, seven times at center back (including two appearances with the U-21s), and 10 times at defensive midfielder (including a match with the U-21s).

Although Wenger suggested that Chambers could develop into a central midfielder upon arriving at Arsenal, it appears that the now 21-year-old will most likely be utilized as a center back going forward.  With fellow center backs Per Mertesacker injured and Laurent Koscielny currently on holiday, Chambers has featured in central defense during Arsenal’s three preseason matches this summer, and he hasn’t exactly looked stable so far.

It is, however, just preseason and the best way he will truly learn the position is by receiving playing time on the pitch during these friendly matches.  An abundance of game time for the upcoming 2016/17 season could mean that Chambers goes out on loan to a lower-level Premier League club, or even a Championship team.  Although Mertesacker could reportedly miss up to five months of action due to a knee injury, the Gunners still have Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista currently ahead of Chambers in the pecking order in defense.

Not only is Chambers not expected to appear in the starting XI on a regular basis this campaign, Wenger has also proclaimed that he will bring in an additional “experienced” center back as well, pushing Chambers even further down the line.

If in fact a new center back is brought in by Wenger this summer, a loan move for Chambers would make a ton of sense for both the player and the Gunners.  The U-21 England international needs to learn the relatively new position, and receiving an ample amount of playing time would certainly help improve the player’s game and confidence heading into the future.