Arsenal are up there with the best teams in world football right now.
The Gunners have consistently been brilliant over the last three seasons. They have finished second in the Premier League in each of those campaigns and even made it into the semi-finals of the Champions League last term.
Mikel Arteta is the biggest reason why Arsenal have been so good, but the manager cannot do everything – his players need to step up as well.
Bukayo Saka is widely regarded as Arsenal’s best player, but Gunners legend Ian Wright feels another player is better than him right now – Declan Rice.
Ian Wright names Arsenal’s Declan Rice as one of the three best players in the world
Arsenal smashed their transfer record to sign Rice in the summer of 2023.
The England international was wanted by clubs like Manchester City and Bayern Munich at the time, but Arteta convinced him to join the Gunners instead.
Rice has been sensational since and was even voted as Arsenal’s player of the Season at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
The former West Ham star has had a good start to this season as well and has formed a great partnership with Martin Zubimendi in the middle of the park.
That must have caught Wright’s eye because he feels Rice is up there with the very best.
In a video on ESPN, when asked to name the three best players in world football, the Arsenal legend replied without any hesitation: “Haaland, Kane, Declan Rice.
Arsenal fans will point out that Wright has snubbed Saka, but the 61-year-old named the Gunners’ number seven as one of his three favourite wingers to watch right now.
Arsenal fans have not seen the best of Declan Rice yet
Rice has been incredible for Arsenal since he joined the club and has been getting better and better every year.
The Englishman was already up there with the best midfielders in the Premier League when he was at West Ham. He has gone up a level over the last two years.
However, the best of Rice is yet to come.
The midfielder is still only 26 years old. He is not in his prime years yet and has a lot of room for improvement in multiple areas of the pitch.
Once he gets there, we think Rice will become the best midfielder in the world, and nobody will come close to him.
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