In the 2011 Academy profiles published by the club, Calum Chambers was described as a

“tall, talented and creative winger with good awareness and a quality final product in his locker.”

A year after those words appeared in print, coming off the bench to replace Dean Hammond in a League Cup-tie at Stevenage for his debut, he was being groomed more as a full-back or occasional centre-half. He made his Premier League bow in the first game of the 13-14 season at West Brom and with Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse also featuring it was reckoned to be the first time three 18 year-olds had started a Premiership fixture.

But he became part of the exodus of players that left the club following the departure of manager Mauricio Pochettino and although he only had 20 senior starts to his name Arsenal were prepared to pay £16m for him (in October 2015 they were fined £60,000 by the FA after breaching the Football Agent regulations in the transfer). Five weeks after moving to North London he won his first England cap but it was not all plain sailing for him and he spent two long loan spells with Middlesbrough and then Fulham who were both relegated the season he was there. He had just begun to re-establish himself in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side when he ruptured his ACL in a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea at the end of December 2019 with the injury ruling him out until the following season. With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2022 he joined Aston Villa on a three and a half-year deal in the preceding January transfer window.