Arsenal: 5 David Luiz alternatives with summer exit confirmed

Rob Holding

Before the laughter begins, this is not in a sense of quality. Holding has traits which he is well above average at and actually fairly solid in, while others leave plenty to be desired.

Luiz’s ability on the ball is immeasurably better, with Holding limited playing down the line and picking out passes at distance. They’re chalk and cheese in that department.

However, where Holding can to step up is in the dressing room. It’s not known just how vocal he is – on the pitch he doesn’t back down from anything – but with a mass exodus of senior players from Arsenal to take place this summer some voices previously faint will need to crank up a few decibels.

Should Luiz be joined by Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka, Hector Bellerin and Bernd Leno, Holding will be left as one of the most senior figures despite him being only 25 years old.

Having been at the club for coming up to five years, he is also one of the more familiar faces at London Colney. While he’s not going to start pinging diagonals out to Nicolas Pepe or getting his boogie on to samba, he will find himself in a position where he can stamp some authority. Arteta likes him for this reason.

Can he step up in that regard? He might not be the man to do it but he will now be having a more important role behind the scenes.