Declan Rice says two Arsenal stars blew him away when he first joined, but they’ve barely played this season

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Declan Rice has entered his third season as an Arsenal player.

The England international joined the Gunners from West Ham United in the summer of 2023 for a club record fee, and he has been brilliant since.

Nobody has said a word about the fee Rice cost Arsenal – that’s how good he has been. But the midfielder has admitted now that it took him a long time to adapt to Mikel Arteta’s system.

Having world-class players working with him every day definitely helped.

Declan Rice says Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard impressed him during his early Arsenal days

Declan Rice won the UEFA Conference League with West Ham United under David Moyes.

The Irons had a decent team back then, but everyone will agree that Rice made a big step up in his career by moving to Arsenal.

Arteta’s system demands a lot from every player on the pitch, especially the midfielders. There is a lot to understand early on, and it’s not easy by any means.

In conversation with new Arsenal Women’s star Olivia Smith, Rice admitted that it took him as long as three months to settle into Arteta’s system.

While he was adapting, the Englishman kept working with his teammates, and two of them appear to have blown him away.

He said in a video released by Arsenal’s official website: “I think for me, my first couple of sessions, it took me two to three months to adapt. It took me quite a long time to adapt to the style of play, the way they work, the intensity..

“But in training, when I see Odegaard up close, Saka…

“Obviously, I’ve played against them, but when you work with these players every day, you just see why they are so good.”

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have barely played for Arsenal this season

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are usually among Arsenal’s most important players.

The Gunners would’ve looked lost in attack if they had lost those two in previous campaigns, but things have been very different this time around.

Odegaard has played just 166 minutes of football this season, while Saka has been on the pitch for only 144 minutes. Both players are struggling with injuries.

However, Arsenal haven’t missed them because their squad depth is so strong now that they can comfortably deal with injuries.

Andrea Berta deserves immense praise for that.