While Arsenal are understandably desperate to hold on to Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil they still need to slim down their squad before the transfer deadline.

The latest player to be associated with a move away is Calum Chambers. The central defender spent last season on loan with Middlesbrough, and is now being linked with a permanent move to Crystal Palace. However, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this transfer story has been the suggestion that Arsenal may want to include a buy-back clause.

That would certainly be an interesting development. It's something Arsenal have only insisted upon infrequently in the past. The most high-profile example would be Cesc Fabregas' transfer to Barcelona -- Arsene Wenger insisted upon Arsenal getting first refusal in the event of Fabregas' departure from the Camp Nou. In the end, Wenger eschewed the opportunity to re-sign his former skipper, putting his trust instead in recent signing Ozil.

Barcelona are well-accustomed to buy-back clauses. Until recently they've largely been a continental phenomenon. The Catalan club have made use of the contractual quirk to aid the development of Denis Suarez and Gerard Deulofeu, the latter of whom has returned after a two year spell in the Premier League with Everton. Real Madrid have also exercised buy-back options to bring Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Morata back to the Bernabeu.

However, it is beginning to catch on in England. Chelsea appear to be at the forefront of the trend. The fact they came close to paying such an exorbitant fee this summer for Romelu Lukaku, who had been on their books just a couple of years before, presumably strengthened their resolve to include buy-back options in future sales.

This summer, the promising trio of Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah and Bertrand Traore have all been allowed to leave Stamford Bridge but on the condition that Chelsea will have the opportunity to buy them back at a later stage.

In such situations, everyone wins. For the selling club, the appeal is obvious. They can receive a fee for a player, take him off the wage bill and watch his progress at a distance before deciding if he's worthy of further investment. That would seem an appropriate route to take with Chambers, whose path to the first team is blocked at Arsenal but has the potential to flourish elsewhere given regular football.

The player can settle in knowing they're likely to be stationed with one club for at least a couple of seasons. That must be preferable to the nomadic existence of successive loan spells. At one stage, Arsenal's Joel Campbell played in five different countries in as many years.

Player and buying club are able to commit to a new working relationship far more than they ever can on a loan. Even if they the club lose the player a few years down the line, they're guaranteed a profit.

Arsenal should arguably have already made use of this clause to sanction more permanent deals. Take the cases of Campbell, Carl Jenkinson or Chuba Akpom; players seemingly perennially out on loan. It would surely have been more helpful to let them join a club where they could spend two or three years finding their feet, before deciding whether or not to bring them back to the Emirates.

Several highly rated young players have already left Arsenal this summer, with Chris Willock and Dan Crowley the most notable names. With Wenger's squad more packed with experienced talent than ever before, those sorts of sales are likely to become commonplace. As the Premier League grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for young talent to break through. Hopefully, Arsenal have already taken steps to ensure that if that young duo prosper with Benfica or Willem II respectively, the Gunners are in pole position to bring them back to the Premier League.

For some time, Chelsea have been the shrewdest team operating in the English transfer market. It's time for Arsenal to be similarly cynical. If Chambers fulfils his undoubted potential at Palace, his next destination should be a return to north London.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by JAMES MCNICHOLAS

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