is this lad supposed to be good? is he ready to participate now or is he one for the future?

Has this been confirmed? Only seeing reports on SSN and From David Ornstein on Twitter. For that price the kid must be good but I honestly have no idea how good he can be. Dules seems to rate him though so that's something.

accidentally wrong forum?

Glad we snapped him up before he had a Luke Shaw season and seen his value skyrocket

Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Southampton defender Calum Chambers for a fee of about £16m.

The England Under-19 international underwent a medical on Friday.
Chambers, 19, has made 25 senior appearances for the Saints and Arsenal see him as an option at right-back, centre-back or in a more advanced role.

Arsenal have also enquired about Saints midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, 24, who played for France at the World Cup.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28497920

Walcott, Ox, Chambers (Schneiderlin)? Southampton army :drool:

Means Jenkinson has no future here though....

Doesn't look like this is a lock so I've merged the main forum posts back over here.

Jed wrote:

Glad we snapped him up before he had a Luke Shaw season and seen his value skyrocket

Agreed. Should have snapped up Shaw last season too.

Wow this came out of the blue. Seems like a really solid back up option.

I am happy that we are following up on our reported interest. He does look like a talent. Interested to see what it means for Jenkinson and Bellerin though.

What the? 16m for Chambers? Don't really think he is anything special to be honest.

I'm assuming you've seen him play a lot to REALLY think he's not anything special. Personally I give just a bit more credence to Southampton fans who seem to think he has very high potential.

I think Southampton will be fine. koeman will have players lined up.

Very sad story. They're acting like a 95 Ajax but without the academy to regenerate sufficiently competent players quickly. They will be relegated.

Clrnc wrote:

What the? 16m for Chambers? Don't really think he is anything special to be honest.

What tier of outside backs would you chuck him in?

Koeman will come with a lot of knowledge of talent from the continent. They have a lot of money which I think he will spend. They will struggle in the first year for sure but if they survive they would probably benefit in the long term as long as Koeman makes the right signings.

Should be a good signing for us. Has great potential and like most of the Southampton graduates, is very comfortable on the ball. His versatility possibly means that he is our 2nd choice RB and 4th choice CB going into the new season. It has been mooted that he will end up as a CB, but I doubt we will start that process any time soon. Needs to work more on his defence, but think Wenger sees a player who is comfortable on the ball as a better fit to be integrated into the team at a young age. Given time he will improve on that aspect, when compared to Jenkinson who I think is a better natural defender, but has struggled to improve his on the ball game and general awareness significantly to stake a claim.

Not sure whether we will look to offload Jenkinson permanently. Feel that we will look to loan him out and if he can get sufficient game time, he could start to develop the defensive side of his game further to possibly become an option for us at CB. He won't get much of a look in at Newcastle with their new RB signing so either West Ham or Crystal Palace out of the clubs who have already been linked. The latter would do a better job of improving him as a defender, but if he really needs first team football, his best bet is to drop down a division.

At 16m he must be highly rated. Costing more than Debouchy, or any other defender we've ever bought for that matter.

Those who have seen him, what do we think 'more advanced' position means? Right wing or defensive mid? His versatility means that I don't think this means anything for young Jenko, other than maybe a loan this season.

Certainly defensive mid. As good as he is on the ball, he's not the kind of player you'd want playing on the wing.

So you're basically saying he's the next Lahm then. Nice.

otfgoon wrote:

At 16m he must be highly rated. Costing more than Debouchy, or any other defender we've ever bought for that matter.

Those who have seen him, what do we think 'more advanced' position means? Right wing or defensive mid? His versatility means that I don't think this means anything for young Jenko, other than maybe a loan this season.

It looks like he's also played on the right wing, aswell as a centre midfielder. But he mainly plays as a defender nowadays.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/talking-points-calum-chambers-1330949.aspx

Callum Chambers on his transition to playing at right back.

"I spoke to some close people to me. Myself, I chose to go from centre-midfield to right-back because I felt I could further my career in that position. It has helped me with my touch and everything else. I’m just enjoying playing in that position at this moment in time.

"I’ve been used to shifting about a few times over the years. I’ve played right-wing, centre-back, centre-midfield. I enjoy a new challenge. Going from centre-midfield, I took the attributes that I learned there – awareness, first touch – and took them into right-back and I think that’s improved my game quite a lot.

"In possession, I felt comfortable. Positionally, it took me a few games to get to grips with it because it’s different. I’ve come along way since I first moved there."

It would be a good signing, versatile, comfortable on the ball and at least makes the Debuchy signing easier to understand as Chambers could eventually take over the position in a couple of years.

so is this guy any good? Never seen him play

Calum looks like a leader too. :drool:

He's got that no nonsense attitude too. From what I've seen he'll put himself about but doesn't complain if he gets a bit back.

Actually strikes me as someone Alex Ferguson would have moved for.

According to Saints fan he has the physique to play elsewhere but solely played RB for the senior team.

Note the rumours about Jenkinson have been going around for a while plus the interest in Manquillo seems to suggest that too.

GUNNER_91 wrote:

It would be a good signing, versatile, comfortable on the ball and at least makes the Debuchy signing easier to understand as Chambers could eventually take over the position in a couple of months.

Fixed that for you.

I'd love to get Chambers. Him with Jenks as back up would see us set for years.

I do like the fact that this allows Jenkinson to go on loan, or maybe Arsene plans to play Chambers at CB? His versatility is a big +.

Dules must be delighted with this. He advocated for this signing the entire season last year, when we ain't even linked with him at all. I have read that its more of 12m rising up to 16m, sounds more reasonable. If its full 16m, it's almost Coleman level isn't it?

Think he will be a centre back, eventually.

If this means no DM, because of a 19yr olds 'versatility'. Not going to be happy

Finally a Calum at Arsenal!

ultimate_warrior wrote:

Not the most exciting YouTube clips in the world...

Strange signing. Paying over 10 mill for a 19 yr old who isn't exactly a wonderkid..

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/talking-points-calum-chambers-1330949.aspx

Callum Chambers on his transition to playing at right back.

"I spoke to some close people to me. Myself, I chose to go from centre-midfield to right-back because I felt I could further my career in that position. It has helped me with my touch and everything else. I’m just enjoying playing in that position at this moment in time.

"I’ve been used to shifting about a few times over the years. I’ve played right-wing, centre-back, centre-midfield. I enjoy a new challenge. Going from centre-midfield, I took the attributes that I learned there – awareness, first touch – and took them into right-back and I think that’s improved my game quite a lot.

"In possession, I felt comfortable. Positionally, it took me a few games to get to grips with it because it’s different. I’ve come along way since I first moved there."

I played at school. then a on and off in the past 12 years. Nothing serious, but I've come to realise I'm a RB. I'm not a technical players at all, but I have stamina, and I piss off attackers with disrupting their play, and getting a foot in. This is mainly 6-aside footy, not 11. But I love my quarter of the pitch whilst everyone else wants to attack. Every now and again I get the confidence to go forward, and it catches the opposition off guard, and can be fruitful. I often clear the ball, but after so many clearances from the wrong half going in, others suspect there's more to it than luck.
To make up for my technical deficiencies I've searched youtube for guidance on jossling and other techniques, especially positioning. But there isn't much there for full backs, once not glamorous, the modern game is changing that. So reading his point of view is especially interesting to me.

otfgoon wrote:

ultimate_warrior wrote:

Not the most exciting YouTube clips in the world...

Awkward touches all round, loses alot of possession, not comfortable with dribbling. Don't look like a natural rightback at all. Very strong in the air though.

We should loan Jenko to Southampton!