Mikel Arteta suggests new Arsenal role for Declan Rice after 'private conversation'

Declan Rice has become one of the best midfielders in the world since joining Arsenal. The England international was already a top-class player at West Ham United, but since he started working under Mikel Arteta , he has gone up a level.

Rice’s game has already seen evolution at Arsenal . He started as a six, was then transformed into a box-to-box number eight, and it looks like he is back in a deeper role again in recent games.

That is an intentional change, and Arteta has shed light on it now. Mikel Arteta says Declan Rice will no longer be Arsenal’s ‘lighthouse’ Arsenal signed Declan Rice in a club-record £105 million deal in the summer of 2023.