“I never expected to leave Arsenal so soon, but they threw me out after 7 years. Now at Crystal Palace, I’m only trying to emulate TWO Arsenal icons”- Former Arsenal star Rob Holding revealed the reason behind his shocking departure to Crystal Palace and also named the ONLY two Arsenal players that cared for him

Rob Holding names the two former Arsenal teammates he’s trying to emulate at Crystal Palace

Rob Holding says he is hoping to inspire his younger Crystal Palace teammates in the same way two former Arsenal captains inspired him.

The defender switched the Emirates for Selhurst Park on deadline day, ending a seven-year spell in north London where he made 162 appearances across all competitions and won two FA Cups.

During that time he skippered his side a few times and played with several Gunners greats and notable club captains including Granit Xhaka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Martin Odegaard.

As one of the more experienced players in the Palace squad, both in terms of age and his participation in European football, Holding hopes he can be a leader for his new side and his cited former captains Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as the pair that he learnt the most from.

I’ve got a lot of experience, 28-years-old now and they’ve got quite a young team at Palace, they’ve got some young lads coming through,’ the centre-back told talkSPORT.

Any little things that I’ve picked up from my time at Arsenal when I first stepped into the changing room and you had the likes of Mertesacker and Koscielny, they are just leaders.

‘If I can take any bits that I got from them and pass them onto the lads that are a bit younger at Palace now, then I can do that.’

The average age of the Eagles’ starting XIs this season is actually just over 27, which is actually the joint-third oldest in the Premier League, the same as Newcastle and only behind Fulham and West Ham.

Nevertheless, several of Roy Hodgson’s key players are on the younger side, including Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Michael Olise.

Mertesacker became Arsenal captain in the summer that Holding signed for The Gunners, taking over from the retiring Mikel Arteta, and the World Cup winner is now the club’s Academy Manager.

Koscielny took on the armband in 2018 following the German’s retirement, but would hold the captaincy for just one season before departing the club in controversial circumstances to join Bordeaux, retiring there in 2022.

Holding has only made one appearance for Palace so far, in the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat at Manchester United, but he could yet make his league debut in red and blue this Saturday at Newcastle