Chambers - I'd like to be a role model

 By Lloyd Webb

Calum Chambers wants to be a role model for younger players.

The Arsenal defender was signed from Southampton in 2014 and has since established himself as an important member of Arsene Wenger’s squad.

Chambers has learned from the experienced players around him and he says that hard work and professionalism are vital for a successful career.

“It is nice to think I could be a role model,” he told Arsenal Player. “That is why I try to stay as professional as possible. At Southampton, we had a very focused age group that worked really hard and we used to get stick for it from the age group above as they would always call us so busy, but we just enjoyed it.

“We loved being in every day, playing every day and we did extra work after training. That has just carried on with me, being like that, working hard and doing extra stuff so I think the main thing is to enjoy it.

“That is good for me as I do enjoy it so much. I want to do more, I want to stay out to train longer and I want to work harder which is only going to benefit me.

“It is nice to think that kids look up to you. I read my social media and see people tweeting me nice things and it doesn’t go unnoticed what is said on there.”

Chambers says that playing with experienced defenders like Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel has aided his development.

“I speak to Per a lot,” he said. ”Per is always there to help me out. In training if I ever need someone or I’m a bit confused I ask Per, Koscienly or Gabriel what they would do.

“They always tell me what they would do and it is good to learn from as they are top quality players.”