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By Peter Hall
CHARLOTTE(NC) (Reuters) – Unai Emery, director of Arsenal, announced on Thursday that he was anticipating the eventual departure of club captain, Laurent Koscielny, while evoking the leader's role as the young defender. , Rob Holding.
Koscielny refused to join the Premier League club during his US tour, while the British media had linked the 33-year-old French center to Ligue 1 club that joined the Girondins Bordeaux and Olympique Lyonnais.
Emery had called him an "important player" earlier this week, but openly admitted that Koscielny could leave.
However, the 23-year-old Holding could become one of Emery's "five captains" – all able to wear the armband when called, the manager said.
"I want an English player in these five captains," Emery said at a press conference in Los Angeles prior to the International Champion's Cup match against Fiorentina on Saturday.
"Last year (Granit), Xhaka, Mesut (Ozil) and Nacho (Monreal) worked as captains. But after the departure of Aaron Ramsey and Petr Cech – and perhaps Laurent Koscielny – I will want more.
"An English player who has grown up in our academy can understand the English spirit and the values of Arsenal. These are the qualities and more (we want).
"We are really happy with his progress. We need his performance as a center back. (Before) he had his injury, he was really playing with great performances. "
The only other British players on this team are Calum Chambers, loaned last season to Fulham, and half-square Carl Jenkinson.
(Peter Hall report, edited by Ian Ransom)
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