Holding said: “I was never at England Under-21s with Lewis, but because we had the same injury at the same time and had surgery on the same day, we kept in touch with each other.
“When Sol Bamba, at Cardiff, got his injury I gave him a message, just because when I got injured I got random messages from players I had never met.
“David Luiz, funnily enough, ended up being here, but he messaged me out of the blue and I was a bit taken aback by that.
“He just said, ‘It happens. You’ve got a great career ahead of you, just focus and you’ll be good’.
“I felt like, ‘If he’s doing that for me, why can’t I do that for someone else? It might just give them a little boost’. Philippe Senderos also got in touch, as did Ian Wright.
David Luiz sent Rob Holding message out of the blue months before Chelsea to Arsenal move (Image: GETTY)
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David Luiz sent Rob Holding message out of the blue months before Chelsea to Arsenal move (Image: GETTY)
“The little Arsenal family came around and got around me. It’s a nice little touch to give me that boost.
“When you go through an injury like that and you’re out for nine or 10 months, rivalries are put aside and you get behind each other.”
Arsenal paid Chelsea £8million for Luiz in the summer and Holding is happy to be playing with the Brazilian.
Holding added: “If I have half the career he has had, I’ll be happy. He’s a great, experienced head to have around and he’s one of the nicest guys as well, who has come in and gathered the team around him.
“He’s settled in and shared his experiences.”
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