Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice are often on the same page.
The England international is the most expensive signing in the Gunners’ history, and he is always among the first names on the team sheet.
Rice has been sensational since he joined Arsenal, but his performances this season seem to have gone up a level.
The former West Ham man felt that the reason behind his improvement is a change made by Arteta, but the Arsenal manager does not think so.
Mikel Arteta disagrees with Declan Rice’s comments about his position at Arsenal
Since the start of this season, Declan Rice seems to have had more freedom to attack and defend.
The Englishman is capable of doing both extremely well, which is why he has been consistently brilliant over the last few months.
During the October international break, Rice spoke about how Arteta had tweaked his role at Arsenal. He said: “I think the manager [Arteta] has adjusted my position at Arsenal a bit this year. It gives me more freedom to drop deeper but also get in the box when I can, and it’s the same with Thomas [Tuchel].
“I think that really suits me, being on the left side of midfield, being able to get back and be an all-round action midfielder is what I want to be.”
That was really interesting to hear earlier this month, but Mikel Arteta has disagreed. He has claimed that Rice’s position has not changed – he has just evolved.
The Arsenal boss said in a press conference, as relayed on HaytersTV: “I heard some quotes that he made that this season his position has changed a little bit, and I disagree with that because his position has evolved, and he is becoming a total player.
“A total player has to be able to do as many things as possible, and he has the capacity to do that.
“So that’s to evolve a player, to start to bring something else to the team, and especially when you talk about scoring goals, threatening the opposition goal, even better, and he’s been instrumental in our improvement in that part of the game.”
Declan Rice is on track to break his personal record again at Arsenal
Rice has been immense for Arsenal since he joined the club in 2023, and he has added a lot to his game.
At West Ham, the Englishman was primarily a defensive midfielder. However, under Arteta, Rice has added a lot of goals and assists to his game.
In his debut season at Arsenal, Rice directly contributed to 17 goals in all competitions and followed that up with 19 goals and assists last term.
In the 2025/26 campaign, Rice already has five direct goal contributions to his name.
If he carries on at the same rate, he will end the season with over 20 goals and assists, which would be his best-ever return.
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