Aston Villa transfer news: 'Nobody knew' Gerrard would seal shock deal for 6 ft star

Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge was left shocked by Aston Villa’s deal to sign Calum Chambers, insisting that “no one” knew that the move was going to happen.

Steven Gerrard’s side struck a surprise agreement to secure Chambers’ signature during the January transfer window, bringing him in from Arsenal on a free.

He made the move to Villa with next to no fanfare.

There were no links beforehand, no rumours, and the club simply announced the deal out of the blue on January 27th.

Chambers’ signing came hot on the heels of deals to sign Philippe Coutinho and Robin Olsen on loan from Barcelona and Roma respectively, and a move to secure the signature of Lucas Digne from Everton.

The ex-Arsenal man signed a three-and-a-half year contract at Villa that will run until 2025 after falling out of favour during his time at the Emirates.

Chambers has played just twice in the Premier League this season, with his last appearance coming in the embarrassing 5-0 defeat to Manchester City, and he has not played a single minute since.

But he is an England international, with three caps to his name, stands at 6ft tall, and has played 122 times in the top-flight in total.

Villa did a similar deal to sign Danny Ings in the summer, bringing him in with very little fanfare from Southampton.

And Bridge says that he had no inkling that Villa would sign Chambers.

He told GiveMeSport: "I called the Danny Ings one a teletext signing because back in the day, you'd see a player sign for a club and you never got any of these rumours or anything like that. And they did it again. I don't know how they do it.

“No one knew Chambers was going to Villa. I didn't hear anything, I don't think anyone did. They're very good at it."

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