Declan Rice: Page 18 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Declan Rice

JazzG

Clrnc Sometimes these things just work out. Chelsea + Liverpool out of CL so harder to convince player. Chelsea would pay the money but I’m not sure Liverpool would. After missing out Bellingham I think they’re trying to sign 2/3 players instead of just the one £100m player. Utd have Casemiro and they have urgent concerns elsewhere. Though if reports to be believed they’ve met with his dad and been told he doesn’t want to join. City have Rodri so have no need to spend massive money there.

Partey is 30 years old and we can’t get a full season out of him, so for us this position was crucial. Jorginho was a stop gap but now we need a long term solution.

Claudius

Bernard Woolley 50% feels aggressive. Rice has crazy numbers on a terrible team. On a team with good players and a manager who likes football, he could take off

And the problem with player pricing is that it isn’t linear and can’t be. Really good players should separate

Kel Varnsen

Funny how quickly things change. He went from underwhelming to dream signing in just six months.

Clrnc

Kel Varnsen It's a common occurrence most of the time here. Once we are closing to signing all the pros comes out haha

JazzG

Bernard Woolley True but the market has moved massively upwards. Liverpool spent £75m on a CB and at the time everyone thought they were mad but turns out one of their best investments. If Rice performs nobody is gonna give a shit about his price.

Kel Varnsen I found him massively underwhelming for England but then again most players look shit for the national team. I hardly ever watch West Ham so don't really watch him. Since being linked I have tried to watch more West Ham games and my view has changed watching him there. Would be interesting to see if he could take over from Xhaka's position rather than Partey.

Watching our CMs since the restart has left me thinking we needed to bring a new starting player in, Xhaka played better before the world cup and Partey last few weeks of the season was dreadful.

goon

Kel Varnsen

If you look back in the old transfer threads you'll see I've been banging his drum for a long time, pretty much ever since I saw him live at the Emirates in 2021. But I can confirm it was quite a lonely opinion.

He's had a very good end to the season though, and I think he's one of those players you need to actually pay attention to in order to appreciate, so it's natural that people will come around now.

Qwiss

Kel Varnsen tbf he's looked better since he's moved to a more advanced position. Still nowhere near worth £90m but his PL experience should mean he'll at least be solid, hopefully he can add even more.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Kel Varnsen
This is interesting. You think we might be guilty of making Rice better than he is in our heads?

I think this transfer will be transformational for us and arguably most important English transfer since we signed Sol.

If we get Rice, we will be eating good (no pun intended).

Clrnc

Claudius Chelsea signed Enzo. They want a battler like Caicedo. Understandable.

Spuds cant afford Rice. 100m is no mean feat.

I thought United would want him, but seems like they are totally not interested and instead going for a CB and a striker for big money. Understandable too given they just signed Casemiro

QuincyAbeyie

It's funny how cocky West Ham fans have gotten after their Conference win despite being relegation candidates for much of the season. On their subreddit they're questioning why he would take only a slight step up. 😆

Daz

QuincyAbeyie sounds like they've been watching too much Ted Lasso

daredevil

Rice and Caicedo are comically overrated on here.

Partey and Xhaka has been one of the best midfield partnerships in the PL over the past few seasons and replacing them with those two isn't going to upgrade the team nor would either best Xhaka's 14 G/A in the league.

If we were signing Bellingham, then I would get the optimism but as it stands, those two would only strengthen the 6 position but we would still require a creative central midfielder. Either Vieira steps up or Arteta plays Trossard as a 8, because Caicedo isn't it, and Rice hasn't shown anything to address the supposed lack of creativity that Xhaka is criticised for.

Doc

daredevil

Based on the season we had. Do you think we should place an emphasis on more attacking or defensive solutions?

I think the idea is with getting these guys, who are absolute top tier in the defensive side of the game and a level above Partey in that aspect... that it affords us the ability to play more attacking options elsewhere... Up to Arteta how he decides to do that, could be a better option in the 8 like Trossard/Vieira/ESR ( you would hope one of them will step up) or giving Zinchenko a lot more freedom, similar to how Stones did in the final.

Point is they are 2 quality versatile players that have skill sets that are massively needed and crucial to how we play.

Agree the prices are ridiculous and I don't rate Rice as highly as some on here from an offensive perspective but that's the market we are in.

QuincyAbeyie

Classic Daredevil to talk shit about Arteta's talent radar, smh.

daredevil

Ah yes, we must be living in an alternate reality where I'm the Arteta hater and you've backed him on most decisions.

Rice would be a great replacement for Partey, Caicedo less so. Neither are good enough to replace Xhaka.

daredevil

Doc

If we end up buying both Caicedo and Rice (we will only sign one, imo) and start both, then we're opting for a more defensive 8 alongside the 6, with Odegaard carrying the brunt of the creative burden in midfield. That's fine if we want to structure the midfield that way.

The reason why I'm calling out the overrating is because many spent all season talking about the need to have a more incisive 8 in place of Xhaka, only to then twerk for Rice and Caicedo who aren't that. In an ideal world, Rice replaces Partey and someone like Bellingham replaces Xhaka. Failing Rice, Caicedo is a decent second choice as a 6. Neither of the two are the type of player you want making creative passes at the edge of the box.

Coombs

Partey is an elite defender. There is nobody better.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert

Partey has been a beast defensively at times this season. Brilliant in the tackle.

MistaT

Partey was elite when his body held up and he had Saliba (and even White) helping cover the space around him.

Replacing Xhaka with Rice will only provide Partey even more cover, and it’ll also help Gabriel who had far too much to do alongside Zinchenko and an upfield (sometimes slow to get back) Xhaka.

Kel Varnsen

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Don't know. I've been sucked into the hype as well and want us to sign him, but honestly I haven't really seen enough of him to know.

lorddulaarsenal

Always liked Rice as a player but it was his performances in the World Cup that made me really want him. He can boss things - great mix of physical power and technical ability.

Has that pass where he takes a short back lift, with his foot open so that he gets that nicely brushed draw spin.

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