Exclusive: What is really happening with Rob Holding at Crystal Palace after leaving Arsenal
Today at 03:15 AM
- EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey
When Rob Holding left Arsenal to join Crystal Palace last summer, many felt as if it would only be a matter of time before he disrupted Roy Hodgson's status quo.
Holding was always on the cusp of the first team at Arsenal, a player who Arsene Wenger rated highly, and someone both Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta turned to as well.
Signing Holding for a nominal fee in Premier League terms, Palace looked to have secured a very clever deal.
However, more than a year after joining Palace, Holding has only made one appearance for the club.
For context, the 29-year-old played for Arsenal 162 times.
Holding has been included in Palace's Premier League squad but only appeared on Oliver Glasner's bench once this season, and then not at all in the club's recent squad photo.
Rob Holding has fallen out with Oliver Glasner at Palace after training disagreement
It's a peculiar situation, Holding is definitely good enough to at least make Palace's bench, someone they might have turned to when Joachim Andersen was sold.
That being said, TBR Football understands that Holding is no longer considered part of the first-team at Palace at the behest of Glasner.
READ MORE: Danny Murphy suggests Oliver Glasner is using £25m Crystal Palace man all wrong right now
Sources confirm that the two had a falling out following their clash with West Ham United back in late August.
Holding refused to partake in a training/warming down session after the game and has since been training with the youth team.
As it stands he is not part of the first-team, a situation that could change in the future.
With that in mind, it's also been noted that Holding removed all mention of Palace from his Instagram account, seemingly not happy with his situation at the club.
Glasner has been coy on Holding situation
Palace boss Glasner has been asked about Holding's situation at his press conferences of late.
Glasner didn't give much away, simply saying: "Rob is training individually at the moment.
“We will talk together. He knows the reason, but it is something that stays between Rob and me. Nothing public."
A difficult situation for Holding who waited patiently to choose his next step after leaving Arsenal, presumably hoping that he'd now be a crucial member of the eleven at Palace.
Unfortunately, Holding is now wasting some of his prime footballing years out in the cold, a situation that must be frustrating for both parties.
