Arsenal target swoop for £45m star after Arteta confirms ‘significant’ injury blow

Arsenal are on the look-out for defensive reinforcements this month after Calum Chambers underwent surgery today on a ‘significant’ knee ligament injury, Mikel Arteta has confirmed.

Chambers has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent defenders this season but the 24-year-old limped out of last weekend’s defeat to Chelsea after falling awkwardly midway through the first half.

Reports in the media earlier this week suggested that Chambers had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament and Arteta has now confirmed the defender has undergone surgery in London today.

The Gunners boss refused to put a time-scale on his recovery until he’d received an update following the surgery but he concedes it’s a ‘significant’ injury and the early signs aren’t good.

On Chambers, Arteta is quoted by Goal.com as saying today:

“We will know more after he comes back from theatre. Obviously it is a significant injury. We will see what the doctor says once he’s gone in there, but it’s not looking good.”

If an ACL injury is confirmed, it would rule Chambers out for the rest of the season and add to Arsenal’s defensive problems with Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding all spending time on the sidelines with serious injuries this campaign.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that Arteta has admitted the club are now ready to dip into the January transfer market for defensive reinforcements but the Spaniard accepts it might prove difficult to do business in the winter window.

He continued as per Goal.com:

“Obviously we had a bad injury with Calum a few days ago that is going to change our plans at the back. We are going to try and be in the market to see options that can strengthen the team. That’s for sure and that’s our obligation and we’re going to be working on that.

“My obligation is to give my opinion on the things that we can improve. But the reality at the moment is we are not going to be able to do much.

“I am more concerned to get people back from injures than the signings and to try and improve the players that I have here. If something extra comes up and we think it’s the right opportunity to improve what we have, let’s do it.”

No doubt many players will be linked with Arsenal over the coming days but Goal.com suggests that Dayot Upamecano remains a key target after we held talks with RB Leipzig over a potential deal in the summer.

The 21-year-old has been hugely impressive in Germany and the report says he’s valued at around £45m with Leipzig open to cashing-in this month as he has just 18 months left on his contract.

That kind of money may prove difficult for Arsenal this winter but Upamecano would be a superb addition to the team if we could somehow manage to get a deal agreed with Leipzig.

***UPDATE*** Arsenal have now confirmed Chambers has ruptured his ACL and will be out for between six to nine months.