Declan Rice is Arsenal’s most expensive signing of all time.
The Englishman was wanted by several massive clubs in the Premier League and abroad during the summer of 2023.
There were many people who felt that Arsenal did not stand a chance in the race to sign him in that window – mainly because Manchester City also wanted him.
But, Arsenal got it done in the end, and Mikel Arteta is the biggest reason why Rice chose the Gunners over Manchester City.
How Mikel Arteta convinced Declan Rice to choose Arsenal over Manchester City
Rice has been the best English midfielder for a few years now.
Throughout his final two years at West Ham United, he was up there with the very best, and everyone knew that he would leave the Irons for a bigger club.
After West Ham won the Conference League in 2023, Rice made his decision to leave, and Pep Guardiola was really keen to sign him.
However, The Sun have now revealed that Arteta and former Arsenal technical director Edu Gaspar held a face-to-face meeting with Rice to persuade him.
The report claims that the Arsenal manager put an analogy in front of the England midfielder to convince him to join the Gunners over Manchester City.
“The train is leaving – are you getting on board?” was what Arteta asked Rice, and that did the job. And the rest is history.
Pep Guardiola confirmed that Manchester City were rejected by Declan Rice
When Arsenal beat Manchester City to Rice’s signature, there were many claims from rival fans that the Gunners paid way too much money to sign him.
There were even suggestions that Manchester City were not ready to pay what Arsenal did for Rice – people said that is why Arsenal won the race.
That, however, is not true.
Guardiola himself admitted in March 2024 that it was Rice’s decision to choose Arsenal over Manchester City. That is why the defending champions did not sign him.
The Manchester City boss said at the time: “Since I am here, many, many players we wanted didn’t decide to join us. He [Rice] is not the first one. I have a long list.
“Basically because they didn’t want to come in the end, or the price, or whatever, it could not happen. He took a decision, a good one, so good luck!
“I think all the teams in the Premier League would have [wanted to] sign Declan Rice. He’s an international captain for the national team in England, young player, played a lot of games regularly.
“That’s why Arsenal pushed in the way they pushed.”
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