View: Out-of-favour Calum Chambers must be put on summer chopping block at Aston Villa
Unfortunately for ex-Arsenal defender Calum Chambers, through no fault of his own, his spell at Aston Villa has never left second gear.
The 28-year-old was brought to Villa Park in last year’s January transfer window as an out-and-out first-team player by Steven Gerrard as the manager looked to reshape the squad to his needs.
His arrival at the club followed those of Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne and Robin Olsen, and arguably alongside all of these names, has struggled to reach his full potential in the West Midlands.
Now under a new manager and a new regime, it seems like Chambers is well down the pecking order, with a summer transfer very much on the cards.
Whether Emery has a specific issue with Chambers’ style of play is unknown, but the Spaniard was reluctant to play him often while manager of Arsenal and has only given him a brief cameo in the dying moments of the 2-0 win against Spurs since arriving at the club in October.
He topped this off by reportedly offering the centre-back a route out of Villa Park in January as he looked to trim down his first-team squad and get rid of any deadwood. [The Mirror, 21 January]
Considering Chambers is currently beneath Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos in Emery’s plans, it is unlikely that he will be able to spark a major revival in the coming months.
Despite his current struggles in the first-team, the defender will long be remembered for his one and only goal for Villa in the Premier League against Leeds, when he whipped a beautiful curling strike into the top corner of Illan Meslier’s net.
This came in the midst of a strong run of form for the Englishman under Gerrard, who started Chambers in nine of the club’s last 16 Premier League outings last season.
However, it now seems very unlikely that Chambers is going to be able to reach the exacting standards that Emery demands as the club looks to bridge the gap to European football, and, as such, a summer transfer could be the best move for all parties involved.
In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell believes Rachel Daly can lead the line for England at the World Cup later this year.