BREAKING NEWS: Mikel Arteta announced New Arsenal captain following what happened in the dressing room yesterday against Sporting Cp
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal’s players nominated Declan Rice as captain for their last two games.
“They made the decision,” Arteta told the media after the 0-0 draw with Sporting CP secured Arsenal’s passage to the Champions League semi-finals.
“They made the decision because Declan has earned the status, the role, the way he’s taken ownership in difficult moments. He’s a great leader, he’s a top player for us, and I love that the players take that ownership.”
In the absence of club captain Martin Odegaard — and Bukayo Saka, who has frequently worn the armband as the Norwegian’s deputy — Rice skippered the team in Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Bournemouth as well as Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting.
Previously, centre-back Gabriel has been next in line to wear the armband. For 27-year-old England international Rice to lead the team out suggests there has been a change in the hierarchy.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Rice was asked whether this closely-fought second leg was frustrating. “We just got to a semi-final, no frustration,” he responded. “Positivity all the way. Who cares what people think? All that matters is what this group think, what the manager thinks. We’re in another semi-final. I’m delighted.”
That sentiment was echoed by Arteta, who used his post-match press conference to express his “gratitude” to his players.
“I know the effort, the commitment that they put in,” said the Arsenal manager. “There’s a lot of work behind it. We’ve done something that has never been done in the history of our club in 140 years, so that tells you the difficulty of that. We have to do it as well in a very special way, missing a lot of important players, big credit to that.
“There is a reason why we are the only English team in the competition, because this league and this schedule takes the hell out of you and it’s very difficult to do what we’ve done.”
Arsenal will face Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals, with the first leg taking place in Spain on April 29. “We’re going to have two magical nights, one in Madrid and another one here in London against Atletico,” said Arteta.
Arsenal’s attention returns to the Premier League on Sunday, when they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in what could be a defining moment in the title race.
