Arsenal: Rob Holding Spoiled Shkodran Mustafi Deal

Arsenal now look incredibly unlikely to land Shkodran Mustafi and we have the young, talented Rob Holding to blame. Well, kind of.

There are always a numerous amount of things that can get in the way of an Arsenal transfer. I often think Wenger looks for something to throw in the way. Whether it’s price, competition, or something else entirely, deals just never seem to get done.

In the case of Shkodran Mustafi, I believe that Arsenal got in their own way. As in, one of Arsenal’s own got in the way.

Let’s be honest, Wenger sent out Chambers and Holding on opening day as a wild prayer that they would click and he wouldn’t have to sign any defenders. He will always give chances to Arsenal’s own before looking for signings. That’s well and good, but it manages to come back to bite us at times.

After Chambers and Holding collectively failed at their job, Wenger saw another chance to avoid signing anyone. Laurent Koscielny was back and if he could bring order to the defense, then Rob Holding may look the ample signing.

Well, he did. Holding looked like one of the more effective 20 year old defenders that I have seen in quite some time. Even more so than John Stones (more on that in a future article). He played his game perfectly and paired incredibly well with John Stones.

Wenger saw that. I can see the little Wenger’s inside of Le Prof’s head dancing around a campfire. He thinks he solved the defensive crisis with a £2.5m signing.

To a certain extent, I am happy that Holding gets to play. He looks like he really could be something special and, if he can stay healthy, he could damn well start every game this season. At least until Mertesacker gets the Walcott treatment, gets healthy and is thrown back into the starting XI with no regard for how Holding had been playing prior to.

But Wenger has one thing wrong. He didn’t solve the defensive problem. He just solved one part of it. Arsenal is still incredibly thin and one injury away from desperation. I will never understand why Wenger doesn’t assume the worst. Mainly because the worst usually happens. One more defender, that is all we need. Mustafi or someone else entirely.

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Starting the summer, we needed a defender. Rob Holding was that defender. But Gabriel and Mertesacker are out for months, the BFG until 2017. Are we really going to walk the injury tightrope for months? Especially with the knowledge that Gabriel and Koscielny are both very prone to injury?

And what about these secondary competitions? Is the plan to start Chambers and Bielik as the secondary center back pairing? Because if so, count us out of literally everything else.

Koscielny and Holding are right now looking at playing every EPL game and every Champions League game (at least). That puts stress on their bodies. A young Holding may be able to handle it, but it shouldn’t be asked of him. Not yet.

Wenger is going to use Holding as an excuse not to sign Mustafi. Apparently Valencia are already tired of waiting, as they have reportedly told Wenger that he now has to pay the full release clause. It wouldn’t exactly be wise for the Spaniards to sell and only have a week to find a replacement, after all.

Next: Wenger's 10 Worst Signings Ever

We should have confidence in Koscielny and Holding. But not in them playing something like 50 games each. That’s unreasonable.

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