Ruthless Arsenal greenlight star’s exit, with Palace, Wolves, Luton among five ready to pounce

Steve Pearson 29 Aug 2023 4:10 PM

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta has cleared a defender to leave Arsenal, with Crystal Palace, Wolves and Luton Town among five clubs ready to strike, per reports.

The bulk of the action in the final days of the summer window at the Emirates is expected to revolve around exits.

Indeed, Folarin Balogun will soon complete his permanent switch to Monaco, while Kieran Tierney was recently unveiled by Real Sociedad after arriving on loan.

Elsewhere, left-back Nuno Tavares is the subject of reignited interest from Nottingham Forest. Emile Smith Rowe is coming under serious consideration at Chelsea and Arsenal are reportedly warming to a surprise sale.

However, today’s update regards centre-back Rob Holding, with the 27-year-old’s time at the Emirates seemingly up.

Holding has been on Arsenal’s books since 2016, though has rarely been a regular starter. At present, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White and Jakub Kiwior are all ahead of Holding in the pecking order.

Holding has been overlooked for inclusion in Arsenal’s first three matchday squads in the Premier League this season.

According to the Evening Standard, Mikel Arteta has ‘cleared [Holding] to leave’ Arsenal before the 11pm deadline on September 1. Echoing that claim, Fabrizio Romano tweeted Holding is “expected to leave”.

On the subject of where Holding might go, a stay within the Premier League is distinctly possible.

Indeed, the Standard stated newly-promoted Luton Town are sizing Holding up via the loan route. Elsewhere, Crystal Palace and Wolves are both ‘monitoring his situation’.

From further afield, Romano revealed Spanish sides Sevilla and Mallorca “both asked for conditions of [a] potential Rob Holding deal this week.”

From the player’s perspective, the Standard concluded Holding is ‘weighing up his options’. In other words, he’s not completely averse to leaving if the right opportunity arises.

Aside from homegrown stars, Holding is currently Arsenal’s second-longest serving player behind only Mohamed Elneny.

However, his seven-plus-year association with the club now appears to be coming to an end.

Whether he remains in the Premier League will hinge on the type and size of offers Palace, Wolves and Luton put forward if deciding to act on their interest.

Arsenal Rob Holding