Declan Rice is officially the most expensive Premier League acquisition after joining Arsenal from West Ham for £105 million.
When the Premier League season begins in about two weeks, all eyes will be on the 24-year-old to see if he can live up to his high price tag. PL fans will scrutinise him to see whether he is actually the world-class midfielder we knew him to be while playing for West Ham.
There is an expectation that he will be an instant hit, but the Gunners must be patient with their new midfield engine. I say this because he may need to adapt to the rigours of playing for Arsenal after coming from West Ham; the two clubs’ playing styles are vastly different.
The midfielder himself understands that he will need to learn a lot to meet Arteta’s demands, after which he expects to reach his peak at Arsenal, a club he didn’t think twice about joining as the opportunity to work with Arteta and play in the Champions League is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I am not going to learn it (Mikel Arteta’s methods) in two weeks — it is going to take some time — but once I have got it, once I add the stuff he wants to my game along with my qualities, hopefully I can improve tenfold,” Rice said on the Athletic.
“Let’s see where it takes me…
“Mikel is like a complete opposite end (to the managers he worked with at West Ham) in terms of the way he sees football and the way he wants to play…
“When an opportunity arises that you can play Champions League football, compete for the title, work with Mikel, I’m sure the fans understand you get one career and you need to try and maximise that.”
It is soooo good that the new Arsenal players respect and appreciate Arteta. They KNOW he will make them better….
Daniel O
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Well, he could hardly say the opposite now, could he?
I have a feeling that Declan could be annoying a few people over in “bubble land” if he keeps this up!!
Just before I read your comment, I was like mmm…. time! I thought he was brought in to heat the ground running.