Arsenal are in new territory in many respects at this point.
Declan Rice, a midfielder for West Ham United, has been acquired for a sum of £105 million ($133 million), surpassing Manchester City’s first bid of £90 million. This comes after they unexpectedly challenged City for the 2022–23 Premier League championship until late in the season.
That was Arsenal’s third offer for the England international during this window. All were far more expensive than the club’s previous record outgoing transfer price of £72 million for Nicolas Pepe in August 2019, and they all reflect the club’s outlook for the next campaign.
To begin with, Rice has always been Arsenal’s first priority. Second, the board, which has approved what would be a record-breaking compensation for a British player, has understood and supported manager Mikel Arteta’s continuous rhetoric in news conferences about the necessity to “nail the recruitment” this summer.
Some people may be perplexed by the lengths Arsenal would go to in order to acquire Rice, but from the club’s standpoint, acquiring the West Ham captain during this transfer window is crucial.
Why?
With the progression of their recruitment approach over the last two summers, a number of elements have become apparent. It was crucial for Arsenal to step up their game last year to transition from ‘Project Youth 2.0’ into the 2021–22 season to adding seasoned players in their mid–twenties.
Rice, a 24-year-old who has started all 12 of England’s games in the previous two major competitions, has started 190 of his 204 league games for West Ham and led them to last month’s Europa Conference League final, continues last summer’s plan.
Along with all of that, he is another player whose skills are versatile enough to play many positions, but Rice would likely start as a No 6 due to the impending arrival of Kai Havertz from Chelsea, who would likely take Arteta’s place as the left-sided No 8 player.
Rice is one of the very few choices with the qualities and characteristics to compete with the league’s finest in that capacity, keeping those pieces of the puzzle in mind.
He has evolved into a more forward-moving box-to-box midfielder while wearing a West Ham shirt, although he still has experience playing a deeper role for both the club and England. When watching Rice, his defensive prowess—particularly his foresight and timing of tackles—immediately stand out. His true tackle win percentage from 113 true tackles last season, which includes tackles, challenges lost, and fouls committed, was the highest in the Premier League among central and defensive players (69.9% from 113 true tackles or 4.2 per 1,000 opposing touches).
For reference, Rice did not have to defend on his own in midfield throughout the most of the previous season at West Ham since he was paired with Tomas Soucek, yet he thrived in that role. Amadou Onana of Everton and Tyler Adams of Leeds United also played in midfield for clubs in the lowest half of the league, just like Rice. Onana had a true tackle win percentage of 67% from 103 true tackles, or 5.64 per 1,000 touches of the opponent, whereas Adams had a true tackle win rate of 64.5% from 138 true tackles, or 8.84 per 1,000 touches of the opposition.
The numbers clocked by Rice in all these years speak for himself
He made 115 true tackles in 33 matches, with a true tackle win percentage of 58.3%, or 8.12 per 1,000 opposing touches. That frequently aided Arsenal’s capacity to play a high line and dominate opponents by maintaining control of the ball in the attacking half regardless of their possession of the ball. To compare once more, Rodri of Manchester City had a slightly lower true tackle win rate—56.4% from 117 genuine tackles, or 7.47 per 1,000 touches from the opposition.
Rice will be relied upon more in a new region of midfield, but his prior success record is encouraging. Additional safety farther back on the pitch may also provide Arsenal’s more forward midfielders even more flexibility than they had previously. This might complement Havertz’s off-ball movement or the addition of Emile Smith Rowe in a more central position.
A little less is known about what will occur when Rice, an Arsenal player, is in possession. With a new player joining Arteta’s team who cost upwards of £100 million and who will be playing in the Champions League for the first time, some may view it as a danger.
The link-up that Rice can provide for Arteta will be very crucial keeping in mind their upcoming Champions League journey
With Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka out wide, Rice has a higher propensity to pass the ball to the flanks at West Ham. Whether it’s Partey or Jorginho, who was acquired by Arsenal in January of last year, the No. 6 usually feeds vertical passes through the lines. Being more progressive and measured at the appropriate times to give Arsenal time to breathe in certain matches, like Jorginho in the 2-0 away win at Newcastle United in early May, is a potential area for growth.
If they are expecting Rice to accomplish what Partey has done in that capacity for the previous two seasons, they may need to be patient for longer stretches of possession. However, Arsenal’s pursuit of Ajax defender Jurrien Timber may make things better. Ben White did not invert from right-back as much as Oleksandr Zinchenko did at left-back last season. Although White often stayed in the same position as William Saliba and Gabriel in the build-up before moving forward to either overlap or underlap Saka, he occasionally provided that help inside.
The play of Arsenal may become more fascinating if Timber signs to fill in at right-back with a somewhat different approach than White, inverting like Zinchenko so Rice has alternatives both on his left and right sides as well as through the lines.
Arsenal’s improvement in both areas depends heavily on rice. Edu Gaspar, the sporting director, and Arteta both knew it, which is why they pushed so hard.
The fact that Arsenal is so close to picking up their top target before July even begins definitely indicates that last season was not an anomaly.
