Troy Deeney claims Arsenal have a player who’s almost as good as Barcelona’s Pedri

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Troy Deeney believes Arsenal have a player who’s almost at the level of Barcelona midfielder Pedri.

The Gunners have assembled an exceptional squad in recent years, which was significantly bolstered by Andrea Berta’s £250 million spending spree over the summer.

Mikel Arteta’s ensemble looks to be the most complete in the English top flight, as the North Londoners now sit top of the Premier League table after seven matches.

The Spanish manager now has several players who are up there as the best in the world in their position, and Deeney believes one of these stars is close to Pedri’s level.

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Troy Deeney says Declan Rice is close to Pedri’s level

Deeney believes football has become ‘too easy’ for Declan Rice.

After a tricky few opening weeks of the season, Rice has settled and been excellent for the Gunners in the last few matches.

Delivering a man-of-the-match display away at Newcastle, he then opened his account for the campaign with a well-taken goal against West Ham on Saturday.

While Deeney’s comment on Rice was actually something of a critique, the former Watford striker has now stated that he is still a huge believer in the 26-year-old’s quality.

Speaking on the Football Exchange YouTube channel, Deeney claimed that the Arsenal man is close to being as good as Pedri, who has been outstanding for Barcelona in the last few seasons.

“Yeah, again, I’ve been fortunate enough this season to work a lot of games,” Deeney said.

“I watched Barcelona play Pedri against Newcastle. Pedri is the level, that is the standard for everybody.

“I think [Moises] Caicedo is not too far off that. I think Declan Rice isn’t too far off that. I think [Adam] Wharton is miles off that.”

Rice could now be rewarded for his form with a lucrative new contract from Berta.

Declan Rice and Pedri’s statistics compared

Looking at the data, Deeney’s evaluation is accurate.

Pedri surpasses Rice in almost every metric, although the England international isn’t too far behind his Spanish counterpart and is still putting up impressive numbers in his own right.

The Euro 2024 winner is one of the most prolific progressive passers in world football, while the former West Ham man is an adept passer from deep.

Meanwhile, Pedri combines his passing quality with exceptional defensive output, as well as creativity in the final third.

Rice is arguably a better and more aggressive ball carrier than Pedri, and has superior set-piece delivery, but other than this, the 22-year-old is clearly the better player at the moment.