Rob Holding has admitted he almost left Arsenal in the summer, but thankfully he only meant on loan.

Rob Holding is enjoying a great season thanks to Unai Emery’s arrival and injury problems at the back. When Calum Chambers was sent on loan and Holding kept at the club, a few eyebrows were raised, but the 23-year-old has largely impressed when given a chance.

“Over the offseason, with my dad and my agent, we were thinking should I go out on loan and hopefully get some game time?” the defender told Sky Sports.

“But then the manager [Arsene Wenger] obviously announced he was retiring and then it was ‘do I want to be out the door, rather than be in front of him [Emery] and be like, this is me, I want to play for your team?’

“So we took the decision to stay and do pre-season here and from pre-season, he liked the look of me and I sort of knew I was part of his plans.

“Contract-wise, Arsene Wenger was staying for another year and I signed another contract with Arsene as manager and then a few weeks later he announced it [he was leaving].

“I was thinking: ‘I’ve just signed for another four years and you’re now leaving!’

“But it gave me that security to know that I had another few years to work on something and hopefully break into the team.

“Now, I think this is my best run in an Arsenal shirt. It’s been 12 games consistently playing to a good level, not playing because someone is injured but on merit. That gives you more confidence.”

Holding has already racked up over 1,000 minutes this season, with over half those coming in the Premier League in seven appearances, starting the last six.