Declan Rice has been a hit since joining Arsenal.
The midfielder has helped the Gunners in some massive moments already despite only playing a handful of games for the north London club so far.
However, with that being said, there’s still this lingering feeling that we haven’t quite seen the best of Rice yet.
Indeed, Rice is at his best when he’s given freedom to drive forward and act as a true box-to-box player, but, at Arsenal, he’s played as more of a number six so far.
It does feel as though Arsenal could be getting more out of Rice, and according to Dean Jones, speaking on the Ranks FC Podcast, that’s a sentiment that also exists within the club.
Indeed, Jones says that Arsenal believe that they need to sign a new defensive midfielder next year in order to give Rice more freedom, stating that Arthur Vermeeren is one player they have considered for such a role – a player Spurs have also looked at.
Vermeeren could be signed to unlock Rice
Jones shared what he knows about the young star.
“There’s a lot around this player. The reason I’ve been writing about Vermeeren is in an Arsenal sense. Arsenal are looking for a defensive midfielder in 2024 to give Declan Rice a bit more freedom and allow him to get box-to-box and show his capabilities going forwards. They want a long-term prospect alongside him for that to happen and my understanding was that Vermeeren was one of the guys they were looking at to do that,” Jones said.
“His transfer fee won’t be that ridiculous, you’re looking at £15-20m for this guy. It feels like a failproof signings, he’s too good to fail.”
Exciting
This is certainly exciting to say the least.
Rice does still have room to grow and improve at Arsenal, and this is the sort of signing that will help unlock his true capabilities.
Yes, he’s been brilliant so far, but let’s not forget, he’s got a lot more to his game than he has shown for Arsenal this season. He can progress the ball and pick a pass as well as anyone else, and if Arsenal can get someone in to do more of his defensive dirty work for him, they’ll be onto a winner.
Whether or not Vermeeren is that man remains to be seen, but this is certainly one to keep an eye on.
