Holding Completes Arsenal Switch

When Rob Holding made his first team bow at the beginning of the season I made a cheap pun along the same lines as the one above, little did I think it would actually be true. Holding has gone from strength to strength since breaking into the Bolton Wanderers first team culminating in a move to Arsenal for an estimated £2 million.

Arguably the best player to come through the Eddie Davies Academy Holding made quite the impression during his 30 first team appearances. Speculation linking the youngster to Arsenal first appeared before Bolton’s last game of last season away at Fulham leading to him being omitted from the squad.

Over the summer he made two appearances for the Young Lions as they won the Toulon Tournament for the first time in his lifetime. Speculation continued to surround Holding over the summer with reported interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth along with other Premier League clubs, with at least one club other than Arsenal making a bid.

With any luck Phil Parkinson will see some of that £2 million as he looks to add to the squad before the start of next season. Other clubs have shown in the past that you can sign some interesting players at League One level for six figures and hopefully Parkinson will now be able to do just that. At the very least one can hope it will increase the wage budget available to the manager.

All that remains to be said to Holding is thank you and good luck. The lad deserves his shot at top flight football and I hope he makes a success of it.