The all-too-familiar trend that brings disappointment to both Arsenal and England

Arsenal has announced the signing of Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers last Friday. Holding, a promising 20-year-old who was Bolton’s Player of the Year and a member of the England Under-21 team that won the Toulon Tournament earlier this summer, joins the Gunners on a long-term contract for the bargain price of just over $2.5 million.

Despite Bolton being relegated to the third tier of English soccer, Holding enjoyed a standout debut senior season and drew interest from a number of other Premier League clubs, including Bournemouth. In a statement on the Arsenal website, the club called Holding “a versatile player, comfortable at both center back and full back.”

The question now is whether a move to the Emirates will allow Holding to continue to develop into the player many feel he can become. Or whether he will flatline like so many other promising young English players who sign with Arsenal.

It’s become an all-too-familiar narrative for Arsenal and England fans: Promising young English player signs for the Gunners, smiles for the cameras, shows a few flashes of potential and then fails to kick on to the next level.

Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson and Calum Chambers are just a few of the bright young English talents we’ve seen get older without really getting better since joining Arsenal.

Aaron Ramsey is, of course, a Welshman but has traveled a similar path in North London.

Injuries have played a part, particularly in the cases of Wilshere and Walcott. But there’s also a growing sense that perhaps Arsene Wenger, the man who once proclaimed that “no one else in the world” was better at developing young talent than he was, is not as good at it as he used to be, especially when it comes to English players.

Part of the problem may have to do with Wenger’s tendency to “tinker” with players.

Two of the greatest triumphs of the Frenchman’s managerial career involved converting Thierry Henry from a winger into the best striker in the world and doing something similar with Robin van Persie, who arrived in North London as a deep-lying, secondary striker.

Since then, Wenger has had mixed results in deploying his players out of position, in the hopes of triggering a career-changing epiphany. Chambers came to Arsenal as a promising right back but has had to try and adapt to being played at center back or, at times, in defensive midfield. Ramsey is often used as a holding midfielder, despite demonstrating with Wales at the Euros this summer how devastating he can be when deployed in more of an attacking role.

Walcott and Wilshere have on some level fallen victim to the serial injuries Arsenal players seem overly prone to. There have also been disciplinary problems with Wilshire – the likes of which someone like Sir Alex Ferguson would never have tolerated.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, has had few serious injuries to contend with and seems to keep his nose clean for the most part, but for whatever reason, he just hasn’t kicked on to become the player he was expected to become.

It’s difficult to call it a fluke when you look at just how many promising English youngsters have followed a similar track at Arsenal. Were they never that good to begin with? Maybe.

But it’s a stark contrast to what’s going on down at the other end of the Seven Sisters Road, where Tottenham Hotspur has brought through several of the most talented young English players of this generation, including Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier.

Once upon a time, Wenger really did seemingly possess a kind of “Midas Touch” for developing young players. But those powers seem to have faded.

Which makes it a genuine shame that Henry has chosen to continue on as a pundit for Sky Sports, rather than take charge of Arsenal’s U-18 side. Whatever is going on at Arsenal in terms of player development and everything else, there’s a real sense that it could use some freshening up, and Henry could possibly have provided it.

Still, Rob Holding looks like a good signing, especially for that kind of money. Heading into qualification for the 2018 World Cup, a promising young center back is something England could desperately use. Arsenal supporters can only hope his move to North London doesn’t dull that promise and see him wind up amidst the growing ranks of other once-promising young talents who’ve turned out as, more or less, middling players since joining the Gunners.