Personal terms and medical being finalised as Arsenal close in on next signing

Arsenal are said to be close to a deal to bring a young England defender to the club with personal terms and a medical being sorted out this week.

Sky Sports says of this transaction:

Arsenal are closing in on the signing of England U21 international defender Rob Holding from Bolton.

The report states that the 20-year-old apparently went to London on Monday to complete his medical and agree personal terms after a fee of around £2m was enough to tempt Bolton to part with the defender.

Holding only made his debut for the club last August but has been at Bolton since the age of 7.

He has played twice for the England U21 side under Gareth Southgate since making his debut in the Toulon tournamanet earlier this year.

We are hopeful that Arsenal have got a gem but we can’t help thinking about players like Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs who promised so much but ultimately haven’t delivered for The Gunners.

It’s admirable that Arsene Wenger still shops around in the youth market for potential talent and he usually sells these players at a profit even if they don’t make the grade.

But we still believe that the Arsenal manager should be looking for a couple of top quality players this summer rather than wasting time and focus on players who may make the grade in 3 or 4 years.

Wenger has brought some excellent players through the ranks but there still seem to be far more failures than success stories when he has bought youngsters to the club.