Unai Emery Backs Rob Holding to Earn Spot in Club Captaincy Group After Snub

​Arsenal manager Unai Emery has assured Rob Holding that he has a bright future at the club, despite not making him part of his five-man club captaincy group that was finally decided last week.

The Gunners had been without a permanent captain since Laurent Koscielny's departure in the summer, but the players voted to hand Granit Xhaka the armband moving forward, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Hector Bellerin and Mesut Ozil listed as the rest of the leadership group.

Holding took over the captaincy for part of Arsenal's 5-0 win against Nottingham Forest last week in the Carabao Cup, so he had been expected to be in contention to earn a leadership role.

However, Emery revealed that he had spoken with the defender, reminding him that he remained part of his plans and that he expected the 24-year-old to break into that leadership group in the future.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal's trip to Old Trafford on Monday, Emery was quoted by The Express as saying: "I spoke with Holding about that. For me, he's a very important player in the dressing room. His behaviour and commitment are those of a captain, although he's not in the five. But he's going to progress and he will achieve to be in that five."

Emery was keen to point out that Bellerin, who arrived in north London as a teenager, earned the nod having adapted well to English culture over the years.

"Bellerin is Spanish but he came here very young. He's very deep on English culture and speaks English maybe better than a lot of English people.And really in the dressing room, Hector transmits a lot of values, a lot of things in English culture and values as a professional."