Mikel Arteta sent new Declan Rice injury red flag with Arsenal star’s ranking in FIFPRO workload study

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Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice continues to be one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players, and the amount of time he spends on the pitch reflects that.

Rice made 52 appearances across all competitions for the Gunners last season, scoring nine goals and providing ten assists.

The England international was instrumental for the North Londoners in the second half of the season in particular, winning Man of the Match awards in both legs of the Real Madrid tie and scoring several important goals.

However, the first half of his campaign was somewhat subdued, as he felt the effects of playing throughout last summer at the Euros.

Suffering from a few niggling injuries before Christmas, this will be something for the Arsenal coaches to keep an eye on next season.

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Where FIFPRO ranks Arsenal’s Declan Rice against Harry Kane and Virgil van Dijk

Rice was exceptional in the 2024/25 season and was ultimately awarded with Arsenal’s player of the year award.

However, the 26-year-old could’ve produced an even more impressive season had he been given more rest time during the campaign.

Earlier this month, FIFPRO released a study which investigated how players across world football are overworked, with Rice, Harry Kane and Virgil van Dijk all featuring.

While Rice is afforded slightly more respite than the other two, it was close, and the Arsenal man was still the 13th most overworked footballer in the world according to the study.

Here’s how FIFPRO’s study ranked the three players:

While Rice travels a lot less than the other two, given that he plays his club football in the country of his national team and plays for a team with several local derbies, he is still right up there in terms of minutes played and appearance numbers.

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Mikel Arteta must be careful with Declan Rice next season

Martin Zubimendi is expected to sign for Arsenal this summer, while Thomas Partey is likely to put pen to paper on a new contract.

This should give Arteta more options he trusts in midfield, and thus, he should be less reluctant to take Rice out of the side when he needs a rest.

However, the Spaniard tends to overwork his best players, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he kept doing this next season.

As shown by the data, he simply cannot do this again.

Rice needs to be carefully managed over the next 12 months, before he has to play another summer tournament next year, otherwise he’s at serious risk of sustaining a bad injury.