Mikel Arteta is confident the best is to come from Declan Rice as Arsenal prepare for their top-of-the-table showdown at Chelsea on Sunday.
The England midfielder was outstanding in Arsenal’s victories against Tottenham and Bayern Munich over the past week and will face the club where he spent seven years before being released aged 14. Arsenal lead second-placed Chelsea by six points and Arteta has not lost at Stamford Bridge in six visits as a manager.
Arteta signed Rice from West Ham in 2023 and said even he had been surprised by the 26-year-old’s progression since the £105m move. He was asked whether he thought Rice had reached his peak.
“Probably yes, a year or two ago, yes,” Arteta said. “But now being with him every single day and understanding and connecting with him in the way that I’ve done, we’re going to get more. Because he wants more and he’s going to get more. The team knows him better, his role is growing around the team, the impact that he has on the team is huge and we’ll find ways to make it even better.”
Rice was signed as a defensive midfielder but has evolved into a box-to-box player that Arteta believes allows the England international to have more influence. “He can adapt to anything that you throw at him,” he said. “But at the moment that forward thinking and anything that is in front of him is probably much more positive for the team. He has earned the right to increase that role, to be more and more important, to be very present in everything that we do.
“He’s in the leadership group, which is very important as well, and it’s a real presence. Sometimes you don’t need to just wear the armband to feel really connected, really powerful and really important in the team.”
Rice, who joined West Ham after being released by Chelsea, was named man of the match against Bayern. He told the former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry in an interview for American television after that there was “an anger in our players this season” and that they have “that fire in our stomach” after finishing as runners up for three successive campaigns. It is a feeling clearly encouraged by Arteta.
“Yes, but I sense that for a long time and that’s a great thing,” Arteta said. “That desire, that willingness to win and to do everything that we have in our hands to be the best that we can. It’s unquestionable and they show with [their] actions every single day.”
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Arteta is hopeful that Leandro Trossard will be available against Chelsea despite the Belgium forward limping off against Bayern.
