Arsenal: Calum Chambers heaps praise on Arsene Wenger

Arsenal defender Calum Chambers has heaped praise on manager Arsene Wenger and believes that the Gunners boss is the main reason for his rapid rise in the game.

The English defender moved from Southampton to the Emirates Stadium during the 2014 summer transfer window and has gone on to play an important role for his new club.

Chambers has had a phenomenal debut season with Arsenal, and has featured 22 times for the north London club. Matheiu Debuchy's injury early in the season thrust the young defender into the spotlight and he consistently performed at a high level for the Gunners in the first few months of the current campaign.

The 19-year-old defender mainly featured at right-back for Southampton, but in the long run Wenger views the player as a centre-back and he has performed at the heart of the Arsenal defence a few times thus far this campaign.

Apart from starring for Arsenal, the youngster's performances also caught the eye of England manager Roy Hodgson, who handed Chambers his debut during an international friendly against Norway.

This has led the England international to heap praise on his manager for keeping faith and giving him the opportunities to play for Arsenal, which in turn saw him feature for the Three Lions.

"He's been fantastic to me - really supportive and he's given me an opportunity to show everyone what I can do and opportunities to play games. I'm very grateful for what he's done for me," Chambers told Arsenal's official site.

"Everyone has expectations on things but he's exceeded all expectations that I had. He has been amazing for me and I can't thank him enough."

"I think he's very thoughtful in everything he does. He gives everyone a chance and he gets the best out of all the players, which is a very good quality to have," the young Englishman added.