What Gary Neville said about Declan Rice before Arsenal signed him looks utterly ridiculous now

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Gary Neville has made several interesting comments about Arsenal over the years, and one of them was regarding Declan Rice.

The England international was still at West Ham United in 2023, but several reports had revealed that Mikel Arteta wanted to sign him.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were also in the race to sign Rice, as were Bayern Munich, who were managed by Thomas Tuchel at the time.

Arsenal smashed their transfer record to sign Rice in the end, but if it were up to Neville, that wouldn’t have happened.

Gary Neville claimed he wouldn’t pay more than £60m for Declan Rice in 2023

Declan Rice is Arsenal’s most expensive signing of all time.

Nicolas Pepe held that record for a few years after he was brought in from Lille for £72 million in the summer of 2019.

In 2023, Arsenal broke that by agreeing a £105 million deal to sign Rice.

Just a few months before that happened, Gary Neville had his say on all the rumours, and Gooners will all be glad that Arteta didn’t listen to him.

The Manchester United legend praised Rice, but he felt that the midfielder was not worth more than £60 million.

He told Sky Sports in March 2023: “I personally feel, at this moment in time, that Declan needs to go and work under a different set-up, he needs to drive forward in his career, he needs to go and play at a different club.

“I think there’s a lot of growth, and a lot for Declan to do to get up to the levels of Casemiro, Rodri and players at the top of the game in those positions.

“But, for me, I wouldn’t be spending £110m or £120m… I would spend £50m-£60m on Declan Rice, but I wouldn’t spend the figures being reported.”

Arsenal fans have already made clear what they think about Declan Rice’s price tag

Neville’s comments about Rice’s price tag in 2023 feel ridiculous now.

Rice has developed into one of the best midfielders in the world, and he has barely had any bad games for Arsenal since he joined the club.

The biggest compliment anyone can give the England midfielder is that not one person on the planet has complained about his price tag.

Arsenal fans have actually done the opposite. They have a song about Rice that says “we got him half-price“.

It’s hard to describe a £100 million+ signing as a bargain, but if any player deserves that title, it’s Rice.