Wenger happy Holding has bright future with Gunners

Young Arsenal centre back Rob Holding has a bright future ahead of him, according to his manager Arsene Wenger, following some encouraging performances.

Holding signed for the Gunners last summer from Bolton Wanderers and has had to be patient for his opportunities this season, with Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel ahead of him in the pecking order.

But Wenger switching to a back three for the trip to Middlesbrough last Monday gave Holding his chance in what was just his fourth Premier League start and he helped his side to a 2-1 victory that ended a run of four consecutive away defeats.

The 21-year-old then retained his place for Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City before being rested against Leicester in midweek.

He could feature in Sunday’s north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur.

Wenger said: “When we were in the situation where we decided to play him, you must have confidence in him.

(Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I believe he has a great future because he’s very intelligent and has a very objective analysis of his own performance.

“The biggest part in the improvement of a player is to be capable of analysing his performance in a very objective way, [be] a little bit harsh, and I think he has that in him.

“He’s very bright about what’s happening and he analyses very well and understands very well. He reads the game very well.”