Mikel Arteta has made several signings since he became the Arsenal manager.
The Spaniard is very meticulous with his approach to transfers. He wants to know everything about a player before signing him, and that has been the case from the start.
Once that process is done, Arteta and the sporting director need to present it to the board, which includes Arsenal’s owners, for their approval.
Josh Kroenke has now had his say on how Declan Rice’s transfer transpired.
🤔 Is Declan Rice a number six or a number eight?
Josh Kroenke says his eyebrows were raised when Mikel Arteta asked him to sign Declan Rice
Mikel Arteta’s biggest signing since joining Arsenal has been Rice.
The Englishman cost a whopping £105 million with add-ons, and many people questioned the price tag when news first emerged.
Even internally at Arsenal, there was a big surprise when Rice’s name emerged as a target – right up until the ownership group.
The younger Kroenke has now revealed what happened behind the scenes before he agreed to sanction the huge sum to sign Rice.
He said, as per The Standard: “My eyebrows raised because I didn’t know if we were in that phase just yet to go after a player like that.
“So I asked Mikel a couple of pointed questions about how we might use him, which I never really ever do. Because this should be what I refer to as ‘plug and play’.
“He should fit right into the starting XI and hit the ground running. But if we are also going to be paying this much, what’s the person we are getting? Because this better be a leader as well.
“I think just like Mikel, when you sit down and talk to Declan, you understand the person he is, how focused an individual he is, and so you get more comfortable with the price tag. It was a big moment for us.”
This is our Arsenal XI for the Champions League final vs PSG. What changes would you make?
Josh Kroenke could’ve easily turned down Mikel Arteta’s request
It’s natural that Kroenke was surprised when he was asked to spend a fortune to sign Rice.
Arsenal had never gone near the £100 million mark before, and their previous record signing, Nicolas Pepe, didn’t live up to his price tag.
For those reasons, Kroenke could’ve easily told Arteta to find a cheaper target. Instead, he agreed to break the bank on Rice.
The support was strong that Edu Gaspar recently revealed that Arsenal would’ve paid any fee for Rice.
The Kroenkes have made their fair share of mistakes, but they deserve enormous credit for how much they have backed Arteta in recent years.
That is one of the biggest reasons why Arsenal are now Premier League champions.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
