Is Declan Rice really worth such a high transfer fee for Arsenal?

Everything suggests Declan Rice will be a Gunner sooner rather than later. Arsenal has had two rich bids, one totaling £80 million and the other £90 million, turned down. There’s a belief that another bid is coming through.

Gooners believe Rice will take them to the next level, but will he, and is his talent really worh paying such an exorbitant price for? Graeme Souness believes Rice will be a fantastic addition to Arteta’s project. Still, the pundit argues he may struggle to take them to the next level if he doesn’t improve (of which he feels it’s next to impossible) his passing on the final third and find a way of not being unpredictable.

“If you’re looking for a top, top midfield player, I don’t believe he has enough cute passing in him to be that,” Souness said on talkSPORT.

“I think he’d be a really good guy; he’d be great to work with, extremely athletic; he senses danger, so he’s got that part of a central midfield player’s game; he’s got that.

“He can get himself into positions where the guys he is playing against that want to find the striker or make a cute pass; he knows that, and not everyone can get that.

“So he’s got that instinctively, but what he doesn’t have is cute and clever passes when he gets into the last third.

“I think he’s a little bit predictable when he gets on the ball personally.”

He added, “[James] Maddison has got that final ball. I’m not sure if that’s something he [Rice] can develop.”

Souness may not be excited about Rice moving to play under Arteta, but Arteta has repeatedly proven his ability to convert average players into superstars; if he could guide Xhaka to change his game the way he did last season, then there’s no need to worry about how he could transform Rice. The Hammer will “explode” with brilliance under him.

But that still doesn’t mean he is worth twice the price of other midfielders (like Maddison)

Moggy