Funny Premier League moments: Harry Arter tricked Nathaniel Chalobah into not shooting

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·25 September 2022

Funny Premier League moments: Harry Arter tricked Nathaniel Chalobah into not shooting

Harry Arter has enjoyed a fairly decent Premier League career.

The 32-year-old midfielder, who’s currently on the books of newly-promoted Nottingham Forest, was a first-team regular in the English top-flight for a time during his Bournemouth days.

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Arter spent 10 years with the south coast club in total, chalking up 69 appearances in the Premier League – where he scored three goals and assisted four more.

The Irishman also played 25 games in the division with Cardiff City in a loan spell for the 2018/19 season.

But Arter’s greatest contribution to the Premier League has absolutely nothing to do with his footballing talent.

Instead, it’s about his mastering of the dark arts.

Arter’s shameless, yet brilliant, act vs Watford in 2017

In a match between Bournemouth and Watford in 2017, Arter managed to trick Nathaniel Chalobah into not shooting when the Hornets midfielder had a clear view of the goal.

Had Chalobah chose to fire the ball goalwards, it would have spelled serious danger for Bournemouth, but the Chelsea academy graduate opted to not shoot.

And why was that? Well, because Arter steamed in and shouted “leave it”, with Chalobah believing the words came from teammate Tom Cleverley.

It’s been over five years since the incident occurred and the footage is still as funny as ever.

Genius, shameless genius from Arter.

Chalobah was fuming with the Bournemouth man in the immediate aftermath, which is certainly understandable.

However, the England one-cap wonder conceded in a post-match interview that he had been incredibly naive.

What did Chalobah say after the game?

“He called ‘leave it’ and I thought it was Tom Cleverley, because he was behind me,” Chalobah was quoted as saying by the Watford Observer.

“But I’ll put my hands up. It was a bit naive and I should have just struck it.”

Fair play, Nathaniel. A lot of other players would not have held their hands up and been so diplomatic.

Like Arter, Chalobah is still in the Premier League with Fulham, having joined the west London club from Watford in 2021.

The 27-year-old’s career has not really taken off as of yet, even after loan spells at the likes of Napoli, Burnley, Reading, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest.

Chalobah is going to find it hard to break into Fulham’s starting XI this season as well, with summer signing Joao Palhinha among the best performers in the Premier League so far in 2022/23.