Declan Rice claims that former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was the fastest player he has ever watched during his prime years.
The former Southampton player was renowned for his remarkable speed, which helped him become such a successful player at the Emirates Stadium.
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Arsenal signed the winger when he was just 16 from Southampton, and he went on to make 397 appearances for the Gunners before joining Everton for £20m.
Now, Rice has been speaking very fondly of the former Gunners star and has picked him as the quickest player he’s ever seen live.
Declan Rice hails Theo Walcott’s pace at Arsenal
Declan Rice has been speaking very highly of Theo Walcott’s pace, picking him as the quickest player he has ever seen.
When asked who the quickest player he has ever seen was, Rice told Papapincus: “I’m going to go to Walcott. In his prime, he was just too quick.
When the name Walker was suggested, he responded: “I played with Walks, he’s rapid, but Walcott, I remember watching him and thinking, ‘Wow!'”
The Arsenal vice-captain believes that in his prime, there was nobody faster than the former Gunner, including the likes of Thierry Henry.
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Rice has even played with someone like Kyle Walker and against Kylian Mbappe, but the Arsenal star has still picked Walcott.
Walcott enjoyed 12 very successful seasons in N5, as he went on to win three FA Cups and two Community Shields with the Gunners.
Declan Rice loved Lucas Torreira’s tackling
Rice also surprisingly named Lucas Torreira as one of the best tacklers he’s ever seen, but eventually picked Italian legend Gennaro Gattuso as the very best.
When asked about the best tacklers, Rice added: “Torreira as well, he used to run around, but it’s not him, I’m going to say someone Italian like Gattuso or something, because he just broke the play up.”
Torreira was another very strong midfield player for Arsenal, with 89 appearances for the North London club across four seasons.
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