Arsenal sign Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers. Holding, 20, played 30 times for Bolton, winning their player of the season award, and capped off his 2015/16 campaign by playing for the successful England U-21 side at the Toulon Tournament with Calum Chambers.

Holding is comfortable at full back and centre back. While he may not be ready to step into the first team immediately, this comment from the Bolton News’ Marc Iles is very encouraging:

At 19, Holding was reading the game like a 35-year-old Premier League veteran. He brought the ball out of defence, sprayed it left and right, timed his heading to perfection and never got caught out of position. I don’t know how this pleasant young Tameside lad had turned into Bolton’s version of Bobby Moore almost overnight, but he had.

The chatter was instant. The last time I heard folk so confident a defender would be a success, they were talking about Gary Cahill on his arrival from Aston Villa.

Finally, Arsenal.com’s last paragraph is quite pointed:

We remain in the market, so stay close to Arsenal.com for any further transfer news.