Unai Emery letting Arsenal squad vote on new captain with Aubameyang, Leno, Lacazette and Luiz all in frame
UNAI EMERY has been holding a referendum among the Arsenal squad as he prepares to finally name his five captains.
The Gunners boss has been looking for new leaders after Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Petr Cech and Nacho Monreal all left in the summer.
That leaves the out of favour Mesut Ozil as the only remaining member of last season’s captaincy group.
So now Emery has instigated a dressing-room ballot to ascertain who will be wearing the armband from now on.
Defender Rob Holding reveals: “The manager likes his five captains and we had a vote the other week so we’re all waiting to see who gets named.
“It was simply a case of writing down the names and giving them to the manager. He will go through all the nominations and obviously will have his own input.
“I don’t know if there were any rules and I can’t tell you who I voted for, but it wasn’t for myself.
“I have no idea when we’re going to get the result of the vote. I think it will be in the next couple of days or weeks.
“But if I am named as one of the five captains, I’ll be more than honoured. Being captain of Arsenal would be an unbelievable feeling.”
Holding, 24, took the armband during Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win against Nottingham Forest when Ozil was substituted 20 minutes from the end of the tie.
That was the defender’s first game since rupturing the anterior cruciate in his left knee at Manchester United in December last year and he celebrated his comeback with Arsenal’s second goal in their 5-0 win.
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Emery has already said that he wants at least one Englishman among his five skippers and the popular Holding is a leading candidate to fill that vacancy.
Granit Xhaka has been captain every time he has played this season and passed the armband to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang when he was subbed against Aston Villa at the weekend.
Other leading candidates include Hector Bellerin, Bernd Leno, Alexandre Lacazette, Sead Kolasinac and David Luiz, even though Emery appeared to rule out out the former Chelsea defender last month.
Holding insists there is no shortage of contenders and says: “There are a lot more leaders in this group than people think.
“All the players are helping each other out and pushing each other on. You can see that in training every day.
“For instance, David Luiz has come in and is talking really well in front of the whole group. He speaks so highly of us and has been such a good addition to the squad.
“And I love the way Granit is in the dressing-room. He’s really switched on to stuff like people being late or using their phones. He’s quick to dish out the fines.
“He’s very demanding and puts accountability on ourselves, which is very important from a captain.
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“I think he’s a great leader and just another positive person to have in the dressing-room.
“I loved Laurent Koscielny when he was here but now we’ve got the idea of five captains which the manager has introduced and it’s spreading leadership throughout the group rather than having just one player dictating it all.
“We’re getting more input from everyone and that’s generating a good environment.”