It’s very rare to hear a player admit to being surprised that Arsenal wanted to sign him, but that’s just happened.
Arsenal’s work in the transfer window has changed massively over the years, with the 2025 expenditure showing real intent.
Andrea Berta replacing Edu Gaspar was key for Arsenal to move forward in their pursuit of the title, as while at the Gunners, the Brazilian wasn’t the best of recruiters.
Edu made some good and bad signings at Arsenal, but when reflecting on life before Edu, the topic of recruitment was even more redundant.
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Rob Holding admits he found it weird that Arsenal wanted to sign him
Ivan Gazidis and Dick Law were among several names who assisted Arsene Wenger on the transfer front after David Dein’s exit.
To say that Arsenal’s transfer outlook spiralled after Dein’s departure would be an understatement, but there were still some successes, one that particularly pleased Wenger.
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In 2016, Rob Holding was signed from Bolton for just £2m, arriving at Arsenal as a 20-year-old centre-back with limited senior experience.
It didn’t take long to realise that Holding had huge potential, but even the player himself admitted that he was shocked that Arsenal wanted him in the first place.
The now Colorado Rapids defender sat down with the ArsenalVision podcast for an interview, where he spoke about the days leading up to his transfer.
“I went to my room, called my agent, and he says, ‘Oh yeah, Arsenal came in and like said that they’re really interested. So like Bolton don’t want to risk you getting injured,'” he recalled.
“I was just like, ‘Sorry, Arsenal are interested?’ I’m thinking, Oh, maybe it’ll be because Bolton were already relegated from the Championship at the time.
“I was thinking, oh, maybe it’ll be like a high-end Championship club, or at best a low Premier League, and it ended up being Arsenal, and I was just like, ‘that’s weird’. Like, it was so weird for me.”
Having never even visited London before and being only 20 years old, Holding thought it was strange that Arsenal wanted him at that stage in his career.
Mikel Arteta loved Holding at Arsenal
Wenger famously apologised to the media that Holding didn’t cost £55m shortly after the Englishman arrived, as his impressive performances caught the headlines.
It was Wenger who saw his talent and sanctioned his move to N5, but he was also loved by those who succeeded the Frenchman, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta.
Holding was at his best under Emery, but even with Arteta in charge, the Spaniard made it clear how highly he rated the centre-back.
“When you compare how he has evolved from there to now, in a year’s time, it is incredible,” Arteta said of Holding.
“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.”
Eventually, the end of Holding’s Arsenal career played out as the team outgrew him, leading him to forgettable spells at Crystal Palace and Sheffield United before heading to the States.
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