What £100 million price tag? Declan Rice is brushing that away like he is a veteran in this Premier League title-pushing Arsenal side.
Not only has the former West Ham United midfielder been Arsenal’s best player this season, but he has also scored some very important goals.
Thierry Henry pointed out that Declan Rice has ‘saved us a couple of times’, but it’s something that he can’t always keep doing, as he told CBS Sport on Paramount+ (13/12/23 at 7:40 pm).
From that winner at the Emirates against Manchester United to the stoppage-time header against Luton Town.
That’s three Premier League goals in 16 games for Declan Rice, just one short of what he scored in West Ham United colours last season.
Before the 24-year-old’s transfer to Arsenal, that was one criticism of the midfielder that he just doesn’t score enough goals.
Well, he isn’t just showcasing signs that he’s going to increase his numbers now, but the goals that are being scored are of very high importance.
Declan Rice at Arsenal
“Declan Rice saves us a couple of times,” said Henry. “It’s not going to happen all the time.”
Declan Rice’s importance
When this transfer was mooted and there was talk of the England star possibly joining, it left many, many Arsenal fans excited.
Forget about the pressure of the price tag, there was the pressure that this was the key player Arsenal needed to sign in the summer.
And whilst some, such as Kai Havertz, struggled with that early pressure, someone like Rice is taking all of this in his stride.
He has come into Mikel Arteta’s side, pushing for the Premier League title, and not just fitted in, but perhaps become his team’s most important player within the space of a few months.
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