Declan Rice has opened up on why choosing Arsenal over Manchester City in the summer of 2023 was the best decision of his career.
In an interview with Sky Sports alongside Bukayo Saka, the Arsenal midfielder reflected on the moment Mikel Arteta convinced him to make the move to the Emirates.
“After speaking to Mikel, I’d never been so convinced that I wanna play for Arsenal and that manager. He’s just so convincing,” Rice said.
“He looks you in the eye and he tells you the plan and he tells you what he’s going to do and everything he’s said’s come true. It’s incredible.”
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The £105 million midfielder then explained why winning the title with Arsenal means more than it would’ve had he won it anywhere else — perhaps suggesting why he turned down Manchester City in 2023.
“I knew winning one with Arsenal would mean so much more than anything else, just because of where the club’s been, what they were building through, the young players that they had.
“I just wanted to be a part of that at that time. And as time’s gone on and we’ve got a little bit older, we’ve matured so much as a team over the years. And yeah, I made the best decision.”
Declan Rice will go down as an Arsenal legend
Arsenal fans will well remember that Declan Rice had Manchester City on the table as a real option.
He could have joined Pep Guardiola, played alongside Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, and almost certainly won multiple Premier League titles already.
Instead, he chose the harder path, and in doing so, wrote his name into Arsenal’s history books in a way that just couldn’t have been replicated at the Etihad.
Rice has been widely touted for Premier League Player of the Season and rightly so.
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He has been the engine of everything Arteta’s side have achieved this campaign, having played more minutes than any other outfield player.
And the future looks just as bright. Fabrizio Romano has reported that Rice is more than happy to extend his Arsenal contract, which runs until 2028 with an option for a further year. A well-earned pay rise will surely follow.
If he helps Arsenal win their first ever Champions League trophy in Budapest on May 30, he will undoubtedly go down as a club legend.
Arteta knew Rice would be the cornerstone of this team. He has become exactly that.
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