With the signings of Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho receiving plenty of anticipation prior to their respective arrivals, Aston Villa's January addition of defender Calum Chambers from Arsenal caught everyone by surprise.
Like with Villa's deal for Danny Ings in the summer, the signing of Chambers came out of nowhere as there had been next to no speculation in the papers.
It is believed that the 27-year-old has made the switch for just £2m having not played in the Premier League since August and could therefore be a serious bargain for Steven Gerrard's side.
On the chalkboard
Having been contracted to Arsenal since joining from Southampton in July 2014, the defender, who can play at both centre-back and right-back, has had a mixed spell of late.
The £52k per-week Englishman spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Middlesbrough before returning to Arsenal for a season and then departing again in 2018/19, this time for Fulham. At the end of 2019, he also ruptured his ACL which kept the defender out of action for a year.
Manager Mikel Arteta had been a fan of Chambers, with the 27-year-old playing ten of Arsenal's final 12 league games last campaign.
That spell saw the defender subject to praise from Gunners legend Ian Wright after a thrilling 3-3 draw with West Ham, who said: "What’s great about Mikel Arteta is that he will give you a chance, he’s given him a chance. The Burnley game he was brilliant, same thing with this game he’s come in, he’s staking a claim.
"That’s what Arsenal need, they need that kind of player in the backup position who will come in and do a job like that, brilliant today."
Aston Villa could certainly do with some depth and versatility in their defence with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa the current first-choice pairing at centre-back whilst Matty Cash is Gerrard's go-to right-back.
However, prior to Chambers' arrival, Kourtney Hause had been the only other senior centre-back with the Villans also having little depth on the right-hand side of the defence, making the 27-year-old's arrival perfect timing.
Whether or not he'll be a regular under Gerrard is unknown, however, there is certainly an opportunity there to go down in history at Villa Park, having initially signed a three-and-a-half-year contract.
When it comes to legendary defenders at the West Midlands club, Olof Mellberg is certainly up there, with Bleacher Report listing the Swede in Villa's top 20 best ever players.
The former defender featured 263 times for Aston Villa between 2001 and 2008 with very few centre-backs since coming near to the standard he set when in Birmingham.
However, with the bearded brute of a defender boasting the ability to play at full-back and in the middle, just like Chambers, they could find their new Mellberg in the former Arsenal man.
After all, he has the well looked after beard, as well as the positional versatility to match the Swedish stalwart.
Chambers is unlikely to start as a first-choice under Gerrard, initially, but there is certainly evidence that just as Mellberg was, he can be a key player in the Midlands.
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