Arsenal Skipper Tells Protégé: You’re Different From Other Young Starlets

Mertesacker on why Rob Holding is different…

Arsenal skipper Per Mertesacker sat down with his protégé Rob Holding as the former Bolton man aimed to sharp up on his preparation ahead of the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

Holding had been on the fringes for the most of the campaign and there was even talk of the 21-year-old going out on loan in January had the situation remained the same.

However, following a disastrous collapse in the second-half of the season, Wenger radicalised our defensive shape and Holding has been a fixture in the team ever since.

In a whirlwind first season at the club, he’s set to start in an FA Cup final and the young starlet wanted to get some questions answered from his skipper Mertesacker.

Cup finals are second nature to the BFG, having featured in a few for Werder Bremen, while he’s also won two FA Cups with us, scoring in the final in 2015.

He’s also won the small matter of the World Cup for Germany, so he’s certainly in a position to pass off some knowledge to Holding.

After their light-hearted exchange on what should be expected against the Blues at Wembley, Mertesacker told Holding that he was different from his counterparts.

Holding asked Mertesacker if he’d ever reserve a chapter for him in a future book, the experienced defender had an interesting answer: “Yeah, I think it’s quite interesting.”

“Young players now struggle to listen to senior players, but I must say you lead the way in listening.”

Check out their full back and forth in the video above.

Source: Arsenal