The forgotten man at Arsenal set for crucial summer as he looks for role in Mikel Arteta's plans

Holding missed his fourth Premier League squad in a row on Saturday - what does the future hold for Arsenal's talented young centre-back?


Rob Holding of Arsenal before a training session at London Colney


Recoveries from ACL ruptures are rarely anything less than exasperating and yet it may just be that the period after Rob Holding returned to contention for Arsenal after overcoming his knee injury has been no less vexing than his rehabilitation.



It is 459 days since Holding suffered that cruelest of injury blows just at the very time where he was beginning to establish himself as a cornerstone of Arsenal's long-term plans. He was a near ever-present as Unai Emery's side were building their unbeaten run and famously would end the season without a defeat to his name.

Arsenal knew that even when Holding was able to take to the pitch once more it would be some time indeed before the 24-year-old recovered his form from that unbeaten run, that much of this season may be a frustrating one for Holding.


And yet there was something odd that came with seeing him hurry out of the mixed zone in his civilian clothes rather than Arsenal's matchday suits. Here has been a season where Emery, Freddie Ljungberg and Mikel Arteta have chopped and changed at the back on a continual basis. Rarely have they felt compelled to turn to Holding.






Indeed only thrice in Arteta's tenure has he featured in any capacity, completing the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 win over Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup tie and making emergency substitute appearances against Chelsea and Bournemouth. Not once in the last four Premier League games has he even made the matchday squad.

Certainly none of the games in which he has featured Holding at his best in an Arsenal shirt but that solitary start against Leeds had come at the end of a near two month absence. The road to recovery was never going to run smoothly for the young defender but it has been a particularly challenging period for a player who had never suffered an injury of anything close to comparable severity before.

After making his return in the EFL Cup in September Holding's ability to feature regularly was hampered by bruising to the knee injury and Arsenal's reluctance to overburden their young prospect. Those bruises on the injury were particularly deep and proved to be a struggle to shake off; although the club's medical staff did not confirm the issue until December it is understood he had been carrying it for several weeks before.

Then came the managerial turmoil of late November and December as Arsenal went through three head coaches, one interim, in little over a month. As the stakes have risen in every game for the Gunners so has it been more difficult to justify throwing Holding into the fray.

Arteta hinted at as much late in January, saying: "He is a very interesting player, very focused, very determined and very willing to learn. Obviously the fact he has been out for such a long time, he is lacking competition now and lacking that rhythm.

"We need to try to give him as much as possible to help... He is a player that is going to be very valuable for us."

In reality it would now appear that the best option for Holding in January would have been a loan elsewhere. At the time it was easy to see why Arteta eschewed that option.

Calum Chambers was out for the season, Sokratis Papastathopoulos had suffered a concussion, David Luiz had been suspended, the Shkodran Mustafi revival had yet to gather pace and the signing of Pablo Mari had not been completed. A door looked to be opening for Holding but his chance never came.

It may not again this season. Mari has started well and Arsenal will want as large an evidence base as possible as they mull whether to take up their purchase clause with Flamengo. Meanwhile the Luiz-Mustafi tandem has proven to be largely effective one.

Next season will bring the arrival of William Saliba and potentially another centre-back. Even if one of Sokratis, Luiz or Mustafi, all out of contract in 2021, leaves another centre-back could come in.

Still time is on Holding's side. He does not turn 25 until September. What he will need next term is minutes, for all the promise he has shown since joining from Bolton Wanderers nearly four years ago he still has just 69 appearances to his name.

Holding could do worse than take note of the path Calum Chambers took back into Arsenal's thinking, learning about Premier League defending the hard way on loan at Fulham. Even though he spent most of the 2018/19 season as a defensive midfielder he returned to the Emirates Stadium a battle-hardened centre-back ready to make a major impact, something he did before a knee injury set his progress back.

Perhaps for Holding a similar loan would put him right back on track. Fulham are even on the charge back to the Premier League...