Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been a revelation for the Gunners since arriving at the Emirates Stadium in a £105million deal last summer.
The 25-year-old has helped take Mikel Arteta‘s Arsenal to the next level, his quality and consistency helping the Gunners remain top of the Premier League table.
Rice‘s heroics have also helped Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, keeping the dream of a first triumph in the tournament alive.
Now, the Arsenal star is set to captain the England team on Tuesday night, when the Three Lions face Belgium in a friendly at Wembley.
Rice will mark his 50th appearance for England by wearing the captain’s armband, a just reward for his efforts at international level.
However, talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan doesn’t seem all that impressed with the Arsenal man’s efforts at international level.
What has Simon Jordan said about Arsenal and England star Declan Rice?
Speaking on the radio station – as per their YouTube channel – Jordan doesn’t feel Rice has made “that much of an impact” to warrant a half-century of England caps.
The talkSPORT co-host also said he feels Scotland legend Graeme Souness – who earned 54 Scotland caps throughout his career – was a much better player than Rice.
“What’s interesting to me is he’s arrived at 50 caps so quickly, and I don’t think he’s made made that much of an impact to have been at 50 caps,” said Jordan.
“No disrespect to Declan Rice, and the challenges that he’s had for playing at West Ham and then moving to a bigger club in Arsenal, but I’m amazed when I saw the statistics today.
“Not amazed he’s been made captain, because Southgate’s given it to him because it’s his 50th cap and maybe he’ll be an England captain of the future.
“But I look at 50 caps and go, ‘seems like a lot of caps’. Sitting in a room with someone like, with respect, Graeme Souness, to my mind, was a far better player than Declan Rice will ever be.
“What do you get, 54 (caps) for Scotland? I can take the mickey and say that’s because you never qualified for any tournaments, but Rice is how old, 24? And played 50 times for England?
“It’s remarkable and you think about that logic he probably makes 150 appearances for them.”
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Arsenal fans will no doubt disagree with Jordan’s comments – the YouTube comments certainly don’t agree with him – and it’s not surprising really.
You know a player is a generational talent when he’s not only debuting for his club and/or country at a young age, but reaches big milestones while still young.
Rice had clocked up 50 appearances for West Ham while still a teenager, and now, at just 25 years of age, he’s hitting half a century for England.
And that’s before speaking about the £250,000-a-week man’s heroics for the Hammers (which include a Europa Conference League triumph), Arsenal and also his great form for England over the years.
Why anyone would seek to downplay his achievements or otherwise rain on his parade when he’s literally done nothing wrong – quite the opposite, actually – and say he’s never going to be as good as a player from a completely different generation who didn’t even play for the same country, just seems like an empty endeavour.
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