Declan Rice joined Arsenal a few weeks ago and has only been a Gunner for a short while, but even so, banter about him can’t seem to stop. But how could it stop? Considering that to be signed, the Gunners had to part with £105 million, a figure not many would have believed the club could openly pay until a year or so ago.
Many have been quick to analyse which role the Englishman could play for Arsenal. For weeks, it was believed he would be given an attacking midfielder role — specifically, a No. 8 role. In pre-season, even the Community Shield was tried out in that role.
However, in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest in the PL opener, the ex-West Ham star played the No. 6 role, in which he excelled. By now, Gooners may be confused about where we should expect to see Rice play more this season. Well, Gabby Agbonlahor, speaking about Rice at Arsenal, has claimed that he could be groomed as Arsenal’s No. 6 this season and could be limited to doing the defensive duties of the Arsenal midfield.
Gabby said on talkSPORT, “I think Declan Rice is going to have a key role, but more [in] breaking up the play, maybe not allowed to go forward as much in certain games. Especially as Thomas Partey has injury problems. A great signing.”
Such a role would not allow Rice to effectively use his attacking side of the game, which may make it hard for his impact to be seen.
However, Gabby adds that, contrary to what many expect, Rice won’t be the one to win Arsenal games, as he feels Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah, and Jesus’ goals would ne the decisive ones: “Listen, Declan Rice is an outstanding player [and] he will help that Arsenal side a lot. But I think that Arsenal are going to be helped out by the goals of [Bukayo] Saka, [Gabriel] Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and [Eddie] Nketiah.”
Without scoring goals and producing assists week in and week out, will Rice’s impact at Arsenal be so well appreciated?
Darren N
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