Everton ‘are targeting £5m January move for Calum Chambers’

Everton have reportedly identified Calum Chambers as their back-up plan in January should they fail in pursuit of his Arsenal team-mate Ainsley Maitland-Niles. 

Rafael Benitez is looking to bolster Everton in the right back position and he is said to have identified two players at Arsenal that find themselves on the periphery. 

With money tight for Benitez to strengthen his squad, the Sun report that the Spaniard is exploring the viability of bringing Chambers to Goodison Park in the winter window for a ‘nominal fee’.  

Calum Chambers (left) is said to be on Everton’s radar if they don’t get Ainsley Maitland-Niles

Chambers, who joined Arsenal in 2014 from Southampton, has never managed to solidify himself in the first team and finds his contract up for expiry at the end of the season.

Senior management at the Emirates Stadium have yet to trigger their option to extend his deal by 12 months, opening the door for a potential exit in January to avoid losing him for nothing.

Chambers has started on just two occasions from Arsenal’s 11 Premier League games so far this season.

Furthermore the deadline day signing of Takehiro Tomiyasu from Serie A side Bologna has pushed Chambers even further down the pecking order and closer to the exit door.

He is so far down the pecking order at Arsenal at this moment that he has failed to make the substitutes’ bench in the last two months.   

Everton boss Rafa Benitez is determined to bolster his options at right back in January 

Chambers has seen minutes reduced massively and he is even struggling to make the bench

Chambers’ chances of forcing his way back in also look slim to none as of the 13 goals Arsenal have shipped in their opening 11 league games, the 26-year-old has found himself on the pitch for seven of them.

The Sun’s report details that it is Benitez’s preference to take Maitland-Niles, a player he attempted to sign in the summer, on loan until the end of the season before exploring the potential for a permanent switch to Merseyside. 

Everton’s loan offer in the summer was dismissed with the hope that Maitland-Niles, who is adept at playing both defence and midfield, could kick on to play a key role under Arteta.  

Maitland-Niles has made it clear he wants to be deployed in his preferred midfield role and he has worked his way back into the side in that position, ultimately jeopardising his suitors’ hopes of a January exit.