Rob Holding has revealed that he was only ever interested in a move to Arsenal, despite being linked with a host of clubs in the summer.
The 21-year-old was catapulted to fame when he made the move to the Emirates in July. The deal capped a fantastic year for the young defender, who broke through at Bolton Wanderers to win Player of the Yearfor the Championship side and was also part ofthe team that took home theToulon tournament with Gareth Southgate's England U21s.
Before joining Arsene Wenger, Holding had been linked with a host of Premier League clubs including Everton and Chelsea. However, the young star told the Arsenal'swebsitethat he only ever had eyes for North London.
"There were people with things on Twitter saying, 'He's linked here, he's linked there,' but I think the concrete one that I knew, that my agent told me, was that Arsenal were interested,� Holding explained.
I was like, 'Wow, Arsenal are interested in me', so that was one that I wanted to push forward.
Martin Keown says Arsenal made a mistake in loaning out Jack Wilshere https://t.co/hczruvYeU3 pic.twitter.com/IgjHbbPRwq
Then when I went away with England in the summer to Toulon, I spoke to Calum Chambers and he said Arsenal is a great club “ 'If it happens for you, it would be great to have you there.'
"It was a bit surreal."
The defender also spoke of the strange realities of being at the centre of a transfer media frenzy and admitted that he was as in the dark as anyone when it came to knowing what was true and what wasn't.
"At the time I was just looking round and seeing my name all over Twitter and places and I'd wake up in the morning and one of my mates had sent me a screen of the newspaper that had linked me with Everton, and I had no idea.
"They were asking me, 'What's happening, what's happening?!' and I was like, 'I don't know, it's crazy, we'll just see what happens'.�
Holding, who has made five appearances so far this season for his new club, also reminisced about his Championship debut and how a particular player had a traumatic impact on the formative stages of the young player's career.
Since the Premier League started, Arsenal have spent 3,286 days in fourth place.
That's the equivalent of nine (!) years. pic.twitter.com/aP1mFWAIap
"I remember my Championship debut. It was against Middlesbrough, and they were favourites to go up and it was the first game at the Riverside.
We got battered 3-0, we played three at the back and I remember Stewart Downing just ripped me apart. I learned from it and built on it through the season."