Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny is under heavy fire at the club and if reports are to be believed then Rob Holding could receive the armband next season.
Koscielny recently chose not to travel with the squad for Arsenal’s pre-season tour to the US following which the Frenchman has turned himself into a villain at the club.
“Laurent Koscielny has refused to travel to the US for our pre-season tour,” a statement on the club’s official website read.
“We are very disappointed by Laurent’s actions, which are against our clear instructions.
“We hope to resolve this matter and will not be providing any further comment at this time.”
Arsenal have started disciplinary action against Koscielny and one of the first things that they intend to do is to name a new captain.
And according to Unai Emery, Rob Holding could be in line to become the next captain at the club from the upcoming campaign.
“I want one English player in these five captains,” Emery told a media conference(as reported by ESPN).
“Last year [Granit] Xhaka, Mesut [Ozil] and Nacho [Monreal] were working as captains. But after Aaron Ramsey and Petr Cech left — and possibly Laurent Koscielny — I will want more.
“An English player who grew up in our academy can understand the English spirit and Arsenal values. These are the qualities and more [we want].
“We are really happy with his [Holding’s] progress. We need his performances as a centre back. [Before] he had his injury he was really playing with big performances.”
But Paul Mariner had recently warned Unai Emery from choosing the young centre-back as the heir to the throne.
“We keep harping on [about] where do Arsenal need to strengthen, they need to strengthen at the back,” he told ESPN FC(as reported).
“Now the thing is, Koscielny is not the player that he used to be, but he’s still one of the better players that they’ve got in that back four – and it’s not a very good back four.
“Everybody’s waiting for Rob Holding to come back, he’s gonna be the saviour… he’s not gonna be the saviour! He is not!”
Rob Holding spent most of the 2018-19 season out injured and he has not seen any game time for almost nine months now.
So clearly he will take his own sweet time to return back to full fitness meaning Emery just cannot take the gamble of giving him the leader’s role at the back.
