Mikel Arteta called me ‘incredible’ and refused to sell me at Arsenal, now I can’t buy a game for my new club

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Unai Emery left behind a very disjointed Arsenal squad for Mikel Arteta to inherit in 2019, one that wasn’t clicking at all.

Remarkably, Arteta was able to inspire an immediate turnaround at Arsenal, recording an FA Cup win during his first season at the club.

Of the players who started the 2-1 win against Chelsea in the final, only Kieran Tierney is still at the club.

His centre-back partners that day, David Luiz and Rob Holding, have both left, moves that experienced mixed success thereafter.

When Arsenal face Crystal Palace on Wednesday in the EFL Cup, Holding was supposed to be a key part of the squad, however, he seems unlikely to even travel for the game.

Rob Holding’s career has seriously suffered since leaving Arsenal for Crystal Palace

Holding isn’t injured, and it’s the exact kind of game he should be starting alongside Eddie Nketiah, who is also not starting at Palace right now.

But instead, Holding is likely to be left out the squad again owing to his falling out with Oliver Glasner. 

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The two reportedly clashed because of a disagreement regarding post-match training after Palace played West Ham United back in August, a situation that seemingly hasn’t been resolved.

Holding has since been afforded three outings in the EFL Trophy and Premier League 2, but is yet to play a senior minute this season.

It must be an incredibly frustrating situation for all parties involved given the 29-year-old has proved that he is equipped to succeed at Premier League level.

Mikel Arteta refused to sell Rob Holding at Arsenal

To prove that point, Arteta revealed back in 2021 that he actually refused to lose Holding at Arsenal because of his importance, a defender he hailed as ‘incredible’.

Harping back to a year or so before that date, Arteta said Holding had grown in every aspect, a player he couldn’t afford to lose.

He said: “When you compare how he has evolved from there to now, in a year’s time, it is incredible.

“It is down to him, how professional he is, how much he wants to learn, how much he puts into every training session and then his character and his personality.

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“He is growing in every aspect. I am really happy with him. It is true that in the summer he came to me because we had a large amount of central defenders and he was not sure about how many minutes he was going to have.

“But we stopped him going anywhere because we knew he was going to be an important player for us.”