Arsenal open to Rob Holding sale after Ben White transfer

Selling Rob Holding Would be Smart Business From Arsenal

‘Arsenal’ and ‘smart’ are not two words often found conjoined in any given sentence in regards to recruitment.

Having signed Holding to a new long-term deal in January, the uproar among supporters centred around the usual argument of settling for mediocrity.

Contracts in football can often mean very little. Just because fresh terms were agreed, it doesn’t imply Arsenal were going to plan with Holding in the heart of defence every week for the coming three years. Protecting player value is something this club hasn’t done well, or at all, for years and in this instance that was the caveat to the 25-year-old’s new deal.

But then again, Arsenal don’t do things too cleverly. Not like this. If they knew six months down the line that they wanted to sell Holding and bring in an upgrade, which White unequivocally is, then they’ve done so in a wise manner.

A weekly 6.5/10 defender, Holding is someone who can push up to a 7.5 and drop down to a 4. Almost always solid and fairly reliable, he will never be more than just that, but he isn’t atrocious by any means.

Excelling as a low-block defender who can get in your face, win duels and head away balls pumped into the box with ease, Arsenal seem to be gravitating away from that.

Finding a buyer for Holding shouldn’t theoretically be too tough. He’s richly Premier League experienced, homegrown and is most certainly not a bad defender – the Englishman is actually a very strong defender, he just doesn’t add anything else. Selling will depend on the Gunners’ valuation but if he does leave it will almost certainly be within the division so there is scope to make a decent profit on his £2m arrival on 2016.

It would mean it’s one in and one out for the homegrown quota, a move that would be supplemented in a years’ time as Saliba will qualify for that once he has spent three seasons with an English team before turning 21 years old.

Should Holding be moved on, what would it mean for Saliba?

Continued…