Rob Holding has admitted he once thought Arsenal would win the Premier League after watching two players run rings around everyone else in ‘frightening’ training session.
The Arsenal centre-back joined the Gunners from Bolton in 2016 in a deal worth £2million and is currently one of the longest serving players at the club. The 27-year-old has made 162 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions in his 7 year stint in North London.
Holding has seen many players come and go during his time at Arsenal, but two players particularly stood out to him back in 2018.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal from Manchester United in January 2018 in an exchange deal with Alexis Sánchez going the other way. It was recently voted one of the worse deals in both clubs history’s has neither player hit the heights that were expected of them at their new clubs.
Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Arsenal. [Image Credit: Getty Images]
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However when the Armenian first moved to North London, Rob Holding expected more after Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan ran rings around everyone in training. When questioned about the most talented player he’s played alongside, the centre-back revealed that Ozil and Mkhitaryan were frightening to face in training.
Rob Holding on the most talented player he’s played with: “A lot of Arsenal players have always said Santi Cazorla is the best because with both feet, technically he’s so clean. I agree completely and I think he was great, but Mesut Ozil just used to do these magic things and you’d see these little glimpses in training.”
“I remember a session, when Henrikh Mkhitaryan had just signed. We did a possession-based drill and those two were on the same team They just completely ran it around us, just passing to each other, barely using anyone else. It was frightening.”
“I thought we were going to win the league. I thought with these guys we’re just going to rip it up now and it’s going to be incredible. Ozil’s football intelligence is just so high.”
Mkhitaryan left the Gunners in 2020 to join Roma, with Mesut Ozil following suit shortly after in 2021 to sign for Fenerbahce. Rob Holding is still at Arsenal, however he’s expected to leave the club this summer.
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