Rice admits Arteta had ‘honest conversation’ with him

Declan Rice has revealed that Mikel Arteta was pushing for him to do more for Arsenal ahead of this season.

Declan Rice put in another big performance for Arsenal against Liverpool on Sunday, most notably setting up the team’s winning goal.

The assist was Rice’s fifth of the Premier League campaign so far, putting him top of the creative charts across the entire division.

What’s more, after accusations that his assist stats were unfairly boosted by set-pieces last season (as if those goals don’t count), all of Rice’s assists this campaign have come from open play. If anything, it would be good to get another one or two from corners again.

Speaking after the Liverpool game, Rice admitted Mikel Arteta has been pushing him to improve again in 2026/27.

“I think the manager had a really honest conversation with me at the start of the season and still thinks I can do more in this shirt and for this club,” Rice said.

“This season so far I’ve been feeling really good. We spoke about overlaps before this game and I spoke to [Kai] Havertz about attacking the box with real aggression and he was there. He nearly could have had another one with the same action.

“I’m so happy for him because he deserves that goal and ultimately to win 1-0.”

Havertz himself gave the credit for his goal to his teammate, saying: “Ninety percent of the goal belongs to this man. We all know his right foot. Today he was there, brilliant overlap and perfect cross. For me it was an easy tap in.”

Rice was a strong contender for the Premier League’s Player of the Season award last campaign, and if he continues to be a key member of the Arsenal team in another title race, he could well be in those conversations again.

But the division as a whole is stronger than ever, and Rice is only going to get there if he has a manager willing to keep driving him on.

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