Arsenal transfer news: Gunners return with fresh bid for Bolton defender Rob Holding

Arsenal have made a fresh offer to Bolton Wanderers to sign defender Rob Holding at the earliest as interest mounts from other clubs for his services. The Gunners' first bid was rejected by the Lancashire club, but the Gunners are hoping that their new bid of around £1.2m ($1.75m) plus performance related bonuses will be accepted by the relegated Championship outfit.

According to the Sun, the Gunners' initial bid of around £750,000 was rejected outright by the club, but Arsene Wenger is keen to beat Tottenham and Everton to the signing and hence has already made a fresh offer with the overall payment expected to reach around £1.5m ($2m). The 20-year-old was named Bolton's payer of the year despite only playing regularly in the second half of the season and is currently with the England U21 side playing in the Toulon tournament in France.

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Holding is reportedly keen to move to the Emirates Stadium in the summer after rejecting an offer of extending his contract - which will expire at the end of next summer – with the League One club. He is reportedly ready to reject Spurs and Everton to complete a move to Arsenal and is expected to push for a transfer once he returns from international duty.

Bolton's caretaker manager Jimmy Phillips had revealed that the defender was set for a transfer after he was asked to drop the defender from the first-team squad for his side's 1-0 loss to Fulham on 7 May with the manager indicating that the outcome would be revealed soon.

"I was asked by the board of directors not to play him yesterday," Phillips told the Bolton News.

"He was in the line-up on Friday morning but that's as much as I know. It would appear some clubs are interested in him somewhere down the line. I think the wheels are in motion on that one and it'll be a few days before we get an outcome," he added.