Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal have a player who’d be a ‘ridiculous’ signing for Man Utd

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Rio Ferdinand believes one of Arsenal’s players would’ve been a ‘ridiculous’ signing for Manchester United.

The Gunners have assembled an exceptional squad full of talented individuals in recent years, which has enabled Mikel Arteta to take them from mid-table mediocrity to perennial title challengers.

Andrea Berta spent £250 million in the summer to further bolster this ensemble, signing eight players in the process.

The North Londoners now sit a point clear at the top of the Premier League table after seven matches and their players are starting to receive their flowers externally.

• READ MORE: Confirmed Arsenal summer 2025 transfer ins and outs, signings and done deals

Rio Ferdinand says Declan Rice would’ve been a ‘ridiculous’ signing for Manchester United

Declan Rice has been outstanding so far this season for Arsenal.

The midfielder has adapted well to a more fluid role alongside Martin Zubimendi, which has allowed him to drop deep and facilitate build-up more frequently, rather than trying to break into the box.

Opening the scoring against his former club, West Ham, on Saturday, Rice will now hope to kick on significantly as the Gunners race clear at the top of the league.

The 26-year-old is continuously compared to Chelsea’s record midfield signing, Moises Caicedo, and Rio Ferdinand has revealed his belief that there isn’t much between the two players.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, the former Manchester United defender claimed that Rice would’ve been ‘ridiculous’ for the Red Devils.

“I don’t think there’s much between them, I’ve got to be honest with you,” Ferdinand said.

“I’ll be happy having either one of them. I said both of them, when they were on the market to be sold, I was screaming for Man United to buy them because I saw the value in Caicedo.

“I think Caicedo would have been magnificent for Manchester United given time, and I think Declan would have been a ridiculous signing as well. So I think it’s splitting hairs with them too, I’ve got to be honest.”

Declan Rice’s statistics 2024/25

Gary Neville disagrees with Ferdinand, claiming Caicedo is comfortably better than Rice.

While the Ecuadorian may be a more accomplished defensive midfielder, he’s much less well-rounded than the England international, who thrives in almost every aspect of the game.

That said, Rice will still hope to make improvements in certain areas this season, as he tends to have done in every campaign of his career thus far.

Outside of his set-pieces, the number eight offers little creativity in open-play, rarely threading through balls into forwards or being involved in intricate combination play around the box.

This is the primary area of his game that could come up a level, and it’s up for Arteta to elicit this from him over the course of this season.