2 – Rob Holding
- Age: 20
- Nationality: English
- Career Club Appearances: 26
- Transfer Fee: £2.5m
Personally, I’m really rather excited about welcoming Holding to the club because after delving into some YouTube archive video, there’s an indication to what he’s all about.
At just 20 the defender is incredibly mature and that shone through when he said goodbye to the club that have looked after him since he was just 7 years of age.
Whether or not he’s being branded as ‘one for the future’ is another question though, as I think he’ll stick around with the first team to get a feel for Premier League life.
Instead, I think Calum Chambers will be handed a loan spell which could pave the way for Holding to come in to League Cup fixtures, as well as early rounds of the FA Cup.
Branded as Bolton’s Player of the Year in a dismal season that saw relegation to League One, Holding is a fantastic talent capable of adding class to our ‘British core’.
What makes him special is the ability to play in any four of the back-line defensive positions, giving us extended versatility when it comes to those inevitable injuries.
It looks inevitable that Mathieu Debuchy is packing his bags and for that reason Holding could be relied on to continue his form, with Wenger making the most of his confidence whilst it’s high.
Agile on the ball and a spring in his step in the air, you can expect Holding to become a regular in the squad in three or four years time, with both Mertesacker and Koscielny running down their careers.
He’s already been labelled as a first team player having inherited the number 16 shirt from Aaron Ramsey and Wenger will want him to learn from the best whilst they’re still around.
You can expect a comfortable reception as well, with the youngster already knowing Calum Chambers through their England Under-21’s experience at this summers Toulon tournament.
Is he what we need? Yes. Is he what we need right now? No.
Wenger is busy in the window and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 26/27-year-old centre back coming into the current team, somebody who’s established and capable.