What Declan Rice said to Arsenal teammates after Arteta substituted him off

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Arsenal bounced back from their poor form in the best way possible with a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace, but there is now an injury worry over Declan Rice.

The midfielder played superbly as Arsenal delivered a dominant performance, but the Englishman was substituted for Jorginho in the 73rd minute, and appeared to be walking gingerly.

Rice has been sensational since his arrival from West Ham in the summer, and with Thomas Partey still absent, losing him would be a massive blow to Arsenal’s title hopes.

It has emerged that Rice told his teammates that he was feeling a problem in his hamstring as he came off, and Mikel Arteta has explained his decision to withdraw the England star.

Mikel Arteta substituted Declan Rice because of injury scare

Journalist James Olley has revealed that Rice mentioned “hammy,” referring to his hamstring, to his Arsenal teammates on the bench as he was withdrawn.

“Declan Rice coming off. Looked like he said “hammy” to a team-mate as he walked off. Potential hamstring injury concern for Arsenal if so,” he posted on X.

Speaking after the game, Arteta explained that he did not want to take a risk with Rice over his potential injury.

“He was feeling some tiredness. I don’t know exactly what muscle it was but when he says that at 3-0 obviously we don’t want to take any risks,” he stated.

Arsenal worries over Declan Rice injury

If Rice is injured for Arsenal, then it will be a huge problem, particularly whilst Partey is also absent.

Jorginho would be his replacement, but whilst the Italian has been superb at times this season, including in today’s cameo appearance and in his start against Liverpool, he cannot replace Rice’s physicality, and with a tricky game away at Nottingham Forest next, this will be far from ideal for Arsenal.

However, Arteta’s comments are encouraging that he was taken off as a risk rather than after the injury, and it was definitely a sensible decision to withdraw him. Arsenal were cruising at 3-0 up at the time of his exit, and there was no need to risk him causing further damage to what could only be a small knock.

It was a comfortable victory for Arsenal, as goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli secured all three points, and they will now hope to build up momentum in the coming weeks to get their title charge back on track.