Jamie Carragher believes Declan Rice was a bargain signing for Arsenal, despite the club paying their record fee to bring him in.
Arsenal haven’t always had the best luck with their club-record signings in recent seasons, so there were some reasons to be apprehensive when the Gunners decided to pay up to £105m for Declan Rice in the summer.
Yet just a few months later, Jamie Carragher writes for The Telegraph that Rice was a £105m bargain.
Carragher claims Rice has been “probably the most influential player in the Premier League this season”, praising the midfielder’s presence and passing ability.
“It already feels like he has been an Arsenal player for five years,” Carragher enthuses.
In terms of the future, Carragher argues that it feels inevitable Rice will captain Arsenal someday, and that he’ll probably take on the armband with England someday too.
The article concludes that Rice could be the man to “bring the Premier League title back to north London”.
It’s high praise, but Carragher isn’t the only person singing Rice’s praises this week. Mikel Arteta had lots of positive things to say about the midfielder as well.
“He’s extremely intelligent to read situations, to break up play, to win duels, critical duels, in certain areas of the pitch that allow us to counter and progress in really dangerous situations,” Arteta said.
“I think he gives us a presence and an attitude that is very difficult to find in a holding midfielder.
“He’s really humble, funny, really hardworking, he’s extremely committed in everything that he wants to do, he wants to win in everything that he does.
“He’s really easy-going and he’s integrating in the team in a really positive way.”
Rice’s overall performances have been consistently excellent, and he’s popped up with goals when Arsenal have really needed them.
Without his goal to give Arsenal the lead against Manchester United, his goal to get Arsenal back into the game against Chelsea, and his winner against Luton Town, Arsenal could easily be five points worse off in third.
Instead, the Gunners lead the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s fixture away to third-place Aston Villa. With Rice in the team, they’ll feel they can stay on top for at least a while longer.