Paul Merson says Mikel Arteta now needs to run one of his Arsenal players ‘into the ground’

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Paul Merson believes that Declan Rice is by far Arsenal’s most important player, and he has called for Mikel Arteta to ‘run him into the ground’.

Rice produced a superb display against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and he was rewarded with the Man of the Match award.

Harry Kane warned Bayern about Rice in the build-up to the match, but the Bavarians were unable to stop him from running the show at the Emirates Stadium.

Following the 3-1 win over the German champions, Paul Merson has been singing the praises of the 26-year-old.

Paul Merson claims Declan Rice is Arsenal’s most important player

Merson believes that Declan Rice is now Arsenal’s most integral player, and he has urged Mikel Arteta to utilise him as much as possible.

The German media couldn’t believe how well Rice performed against Bayern, and they think he made Vincent Kompany’s team look ‘useless’ in the Champions League.

Rice did a bit of everything against Bayern, with his importance to the team now continuing to shine through in N5.

After the match, Merson hailed Arsenal’s win over Bayern by telling Sky Sports News: “Second half, they just steamrolled them.

“You know, Ben White, come on, Odegaard, Calafiori, Martinelli, Madueke. I mean, they’re the five subs. I mean, they walk into a lot of teams.

“For all their squad and how brilliant it is. They can’t afford to lose Declan Rice, the man. It just gets better and better and better. He was absolutely outstanding. Run him into the ground.”

Rice is quickly becoming a leader at Arsenal, with both his presence in the dressing room and on the pitch now totally evident.

Declan Rice on his battle against Moises Caicedo

Rice has admitted that he has a lot of respect for Moises Caicedo ahead of Chelsea versus Arsenal on the weekend.

The Arsenal midfielder told CBS Sports: “First and foremost, I have a lot of respect for Moises. I have played against him since his Brighton days, since I was at West Ham

“I voted for him last year in my PFA Team of the Year. I thought he was outstanding last year, and he has started this year incredibly well as well.”

However, despite the comparisons, Rice insists they are two very different players: “There are so many comparisons between us, but we are playing different positions; he’s a full-blown six, and I am more of a box-to-box number 8.

“Sunday is going to be an interesting game, but the most important thing is I have a lot of respect for him as a player, as Roy (Keane) and Patrick (Vieira) did. It is an exciting battle between us and one I’ll be ready for.”