Arsenal seem to have wrapped up another signing and this might not be one that goes straight into the first team. The Gunners could be in line to sign Rob Holding from Bolton and the 21-year-old defender seems to be another player that goes straight into the Arsenal reserve team and hopefully he can break out for the side next season.
It does remind us a little bit of the Calum Chambers deal and we all know how that has turned out or it hasn’t for the defender/midfielder. Holding was always a Bolton player and started his career with the club when he was just seven years old.
His big break through came when he joined League Two side Bury on loan in 2015. His performances kept on going strong and he got his Bolton debut in August 2015 in a League Cup game. He even got his first goal for Bolton in January 2016 against MK Dons.
He was so good for Bolton that the defender was named as the Bolton Player of the Season for the 2015/16 campaign. He is also an England U21 international which just proves to show Holding is set for good things in the future.
The greatest asset that the youngster has is his composure on the ball. He is even great in heading, which has to be strength for any centre-back. Holding also seems to be experienced and doesn’t get frazzled so easily when playing games and one thing that has been a trademark of him is his constant communication with his other central defenders, something which is not a regular hallmark for a young defender.
Holding also seems to have decent pace and always does something with the ball. He is a no nonsense defender, something that Arsenal fans would love to have at the club and certainly seems a good bet for the future.
There is one major issue with his game and that is his lack of pace, most centre-backs in the Premier League do have a problem with attackers running past them and Holding struggles when any striker gets the better of him and races away at goal, Arsenal fans would know this feeling too many times with Per Mertesacker last season.
All-in-all, Holding does seem like a player who will get better as he gets more games under his belt. Arsenal seem to have done it once again by picking up one of the most coveted young defenders in England but only time will tell if he is worth the gamble or not.