After months of speculation, it seems that Declan Rice will sign for Arsenal this summer for a club-record £100million.
The West Ham captain has long been linked with a big money transfer, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Bayern Munich very interested in his services.
But it is the Gunners who apepar to have won the race for the England international, who is considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
But how exactly will he fit into Mikel Arteta’s system and can the 24-year-old give Arsenal the edge over Manchester City after they fell just short in the title race? Metro Sport takes a look:
Xhaka’s replacement:
Arsenal currently operate in a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation with Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka in the engine room and Martin Odegaard in the advanced role.
Rice should have no problem slotting in then as at West Ham he typically played in a two-man midfield alongside Tomas Soucek with Lucas Paqueta ahead of them.
Now the question is who does he replace in the side: Partey or Xhaka? This won’t be fully answered until the transfer window shuts with the Swiss star touted to leave, while Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and City’s Ilkay Gundogan are closely linked to the Emirates.
For now, we’ll just go with what the squad currently looks like but replacing Xhaka would seem the most likely option.
Though primarily a No.6, Rice’s excellent ability to progress the ball forward, set up chances and willingness to run into the box and score for himself make him more than well-suited to play as a No.8.
With Granit Xhaka tipped to leave, Rice slots straight into his midfield role
Partey’s replacement:
Alternatively, Rice will take Partey’s role as the more defensively minded midfielder, content to sit deep and screen the centre-backs.
This is the position he is most use to and the one he plays for England, with his reading the game and expertise at stopping opposition attacks before quickly countering imperative to his club and country’s success over the past few years.
30-year-old Partey has struggled with fitness issues during his time in north London and Jorginho is not renowned for his physical prowess, so Rice is a clear upgrade in this position having very rarely missed a game for West Ham over the last three or four seasons.
It also goes without saying that his leadership on and off the pitch will be invaluable to this young and fledgling Arsenal side that buckled under the pressure during the last phase of the title race.
Though the Irons endured a tough 2022/23 season domestically, Rice was consistently good throughout and in the end skippered them to Europa Conference League glory – the club’s first major trophy in 43 years.
Man City 2.0:
As one of Pep Guardiola’s proteges, Arteta’s master plan has always been to transform Arsenal into City mark II. So what if he copied his former boss’ tactics?
Guardiola switched the Citizens to a curious 3-2-4-1 formation part way through the last campaign – a decision that would eventually lead to them winning the treble.
If Arsenal did something similar, Rice would be key player, likely operating in one of the deeper midfield roles that Rodri and John Stones have thrived in recently.
How exactly the rest of the Gunners would fit this shape is a little less certain. Will defenders Oleksandr Zinchenko or Ben White join Rice in midfield? Could Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah play together? Does Gabriel Martinelli fit in?
With Arsenal returning to the Champions League for the first time in six years, there is a lot on the line and Arteta may not want to risk too much experimentation. But then again, spending £100m on one player is a huge risk in itself…
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