Declan Rice achieves remarkable feat that no Arsenal player has managed in 24 years

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Arsenal star Declan Rice is thriving at both club and International level right now, and is a crucial player for both Mikel Arteta and Gareth Southgate.

The 25-year-old joined from West Ham in the summer and has been one of the best players in the Premier League, helping Arsenal to the top of the table.

He has reached a new performance level in North London, and Southgate has admitted that the midfielder has improved since moving to Arsenal.

This resulted in Rice picking up his 50th England cap in a friendly against Belgium last night, and it also saw him break a barren streak when it comes to Arsenal players.

Declan Rice captained England against Belgium

With Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane injured, Rice was handed the England armband for the first time, and led the team out in the 2-2 draw with Belgium at Wembley.

This meant that Rice was the first active Arsenal player to captain England in any game since Sol Campbell in 2005, and the first Gunner to captain England at Wembley since Tony Adams in 2000, 24 years ago.

Becoming England captain, even just for a game, is no easy feat, and no other Arsenal player had managed it in all these years until Rice did last night.

Arsenal’s history of England captains

In the modern era, Adams served as and official England captain on 15 occasions, whilst Martin Keown and David Seaman wore the armband once each, with Campbell wearing it three times.

Ashley Cole has also worn the armband, but this came during his latter days at Chelsea, having completed a controversial transfer in 2006.

Beyond that, the likes of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Ray Parlour did feature for England, but never wore the armband ahead of their peers from other clubs.

It is a testament to Rice’s influence within the Premier League and the National Team, that he is seen as one of the key leaders in English football, and in the absence of Kane, he was selected to be captain ahead of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden or John Stones.

England did stumble to a 2-2 draw in their preparation for the EUROs, with Bellingham scoring a last-minute equaliser, and Rice played every minute of both friendly matches in this International break, which is certain to frustrate Mikel Arteta ahead of a tough run of fixtures.