Declan Rice moved to Arsenal as a European champion after winning the Conference League with West Ham last season, but that is not why the club signed him.
He had been on Arsenal’s radar even before leading West Ham to silverware and that victory has not eliminated his doubters.
However, a new stat has shown why he is a good signing and probably the best midfielder at Arsenal.
The Englishman is often judged harshly for not scoring enough goals, but he is an engine that makes others around him flourish.
With Martin Odegaard chipping in with the goals, Rice could be the final piece of the jigsaw at the Emirates.
The Sun reveals while he has fewer goals than Odegaard, the England international has more assists (2) than Thomas Partey (0) and Jorginho (1).
Rice has an 88% pass accuracy, which ties him at joint-best at the club with Partey, but better than Odegaard (84) and Jorginho (87.6).
The ex-West Ham man has more interceptions (63) than Partey (28), Jorginho (9) and Odegaard (6).
He is also the best at progressive carries at 315, better than Partey (250), Odegaard (186) and Jorginho (83).
Just Arsenal Opinion
Rice is simply a solid addition to our squad, and looking forward to what we will achieve with him in the squad is exciting.
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Maybe it is time to have a rest no ? Just wait and let him play and the chemistry develop. And we will see if the team as a whole does well. It is not a competition and a question of who is the best IMO.
Already shining, brightly. The “lighthouse” built on Rice.
Declan Rice signing is designed to restore respectability in the league, it’s a game changer flex which resets the landscape.
Rice six years Partey is a younger version of the Ghanaian with aerial supremacy, and don’t forget, Rice has reached this level without working with the magician ,if I may borrow that word from a certain fan, which means there could be much more to come if one looks at Odegaard.
Critics will tell you this is faith in a manager who so far delivered little more than snappy soundbites and the promise of more to come.
Now the timeframes for phase 4 to come to fruition has to be brought forward after Rice was added to the list of deal that include Kia Havertz and Jurrin Timber.
Spending on this level demands major trophies in return.
Can we slow down a bit and give the guy a chance to kick a ball!
Stats are also useless without context. For eg it’s no surprise that his intercept stats are higher while playing for a team with lower possession and that sees more attacks against them.
I’m glad Rice is our player, let’s let him breathe a bit.
Spot on PJ.
I really don’t care about any of these so called stats. All I care about is what my eyes will see for themselves when he is on that pitch.
Rice has got to perform at Arsenal first and then we can start talking about his out of context stats.
😊👍
Playing in team that was fighting relegation ,
playing in a team that set up completely different .
His West Ham stats mean nothing ,Arsenal will be a whole new ball game for his style .
Best to wait until he’s played a good potion of games until comparing him to any of our midfielders.
Let his price and game justify the cost.
It is nice to see all the new recruitment done by arteta but let’s party also remain in the club
Yeah, I’ve seen Rice’s stats versus Partey and Rodri among others and he stands up well pitted V the best. His intercepting ability is phenomenal over a number of seasons now
Watch how his intercepting ability drop drastically in Arsenal.
You know why? cos he won’t face much attack like he face at Westham.
So his interception stat at Westham will be useless