Why Chelsea FINALLY Turned A Corner.
Crystal Palace are now in talks to sign Rob Holding from Arsenal on a permanent deal.
That is according to the Evening Standard.
So, what is the situation involving Rob Holding and Crystal Palace? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman are clearly keen to sign an upgrade on James Tomkins – or are simply growing concerned at the fitness of Chris Richards, who is quite injury prone.
The Evening Standard believe we have emerged as surprise favourites to sign Holding as Mikel Arteta looks to offload the 27-year-old before tonight’s 11pm deadline.
Selhurst Park is believed to be the Arsenal No.16’s preferred destination, and those at Crystal Palace view the centre-back as a cheap option given the fact he has less than 12 months on his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
Holding made 24 appearances for the Gunners last season, but most of those came from the bench as he found playing time hard to come by up against William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães.
Rob Holding will surely have to accept another backup role at Crystal Palace
If Holding – who Arsenal signed from Bolton for just £2m in July 2016 – believes he will receive regular starts under Roy Hodgson, he should think again.
Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen are the undisputed partnership at the heart of the backline, and are arguably the first two names on our teamsheet.
Therefore, unless we are planning to use Holding at right-back, the man with 98 Premier League appearances should not expect things to be much different from how they were at Arsenal.
Nevertheless, if Holding is still keen on the move and the price is fairly low, then he represents a signifiant upgrade on Tomkins.
Be sure to keep an eye on this situation, as talks between Crystal Palace and Arsenal continue.
