This past weekend, Arsenal made Declan Rice the most expensive British player ever, and while they may have secured his services to ultimately reach the summit of the Premier League, the midfielder's signing also places them among the very best in Europe.
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After reaching the UEFA Champions League final in the 2005/06 season, the Gunners, for the most part, have been irrelevant in European football. In the 17 years after that defeat to Barcelona in Paris, the north Londoners have made it past the competition's round of 16 on only three occasions, failing to qualify for the tournament altogether for the past seven years. Consequently, the Emirates Stadium has not been a desirable destination for the world's best talent for some time now and the Gunners have suffered because of it.
However, in the past two off-seasons, Mikel Arteta has managed to change the perception of the club, not only in fans, but also in players. This past season, Arsenal challenged Manchester City for the Premier League title for the better part of the campaign with the youngest squad in the division, illustrating the Spaniard's acumen as a world-class coach, and this will have no doubt made an indelible mark on top players around the world as to what the ex-midfielder is capable of in terms of developing talent.
Since becoming the head coach of the 13-time English champions, the San Sebastian native has had very few misses in terms of signings. Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Martin Odegaard have all been exceptional for the 41-year-old, and Rice has all the hallmarks of eclipsing the aforementioned players.
The London native performed superbly for West Ham United during the 2022/23 season, captaining the Hammers to UEFA Europa Conference League glory, and he will bring a lot of outstanding qualities to a position in which Partey is already performing at a high level. The England midfielder is arguably the best in the game at breaking up possession. He's positioning, anticipation and decision-making make him adept at breaking up play up for his team, and for a side that presses as highly as the north Londoners do, this may make a world of difference as far as sustaining pressure is concerned.
Another thing the 47-cap England international is excellent at is driving with the ball. When you watch the 24-year-old, he always looks comfortable receiving the ball in any scenario, something his now Ghanaian teammate is also very good at, but while the west African counterpart is better at finding a pass into midfield or into attack, Rice will pick up the ball and run with it. These runs help as far as committing opposition players, meaning the likelihood of space opening up for a teammate increases. He also has the range of passing to find said teammates wherever on the pitch, and if the opposition refuse to engage him, he has the ability to get into the box and score himself.
He's one of the few players in world football that are able to go from playing as a defender to an attacker in the blink of an eye and that may give the English giants a big advantage against some of Europe's bigger outfits.
While the signing of Rice may have given Arsenal an edge in a football sense, it's also helped the club in a cultural sense too. Both Bayern Munich and Manchester City were linked with the holding midfielder, teams one could arguable are in better moments than Arsenal, but ultimately the dynamic ex-centre-back decided to move across the capital to become the club's record transfer, something that cannot be understated given the pedigree the current German and English champions possess.
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The record FA Cup winners have not plied their trade in Europe's elite tournament for many years and one may be forgiven for being wary if they will indeed take to it like a duck does to water, especially if you also consider their league aspirations. The past two seasons have shown that Arteta is able to exceed expectations, though, and given that they have added more quality and versatility in Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, it is possible that the Rice transfer may prove a game-changing one for the famous red and white team in Britain.
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