Cesc Fabregas knows exactly what it takes to be a top-level midfielder and win trophies.
Across his playing career, which saw him feature for clubs in four of Europe’s top five leagues, the Spaniard scored 125 goals and delivered 213 assists in 737 games across all competitions.
Having won two Premier League titles in 350 combined top-flight appearances for Arsenal and Chelsea, Fabregas played with and against some of the best midfielders English football has seen.
Now though, the 37-year-old has shared his thoughts on two of the current top midfield players in the division, with one City star getting a special mention.
Cesc Fabregas picks who is better out of Rodri and Declan Rice
In a recent video shared on the official Champions League TikTok channel, Fabregas was participating in a winner-stays-on challenge that involved some midfield stars from this season’s Champions League tournament.
The first question saw the former Barcelona star have to pick who he thinks is better out of Rodri and Declan Rice, to which he said this in response.
He said: “At this moment, Rodri.”
Rodri vs Rice
In his first season at Arsenal, Rice and the rest of his teammates were involved in another Premier League title race with Pep Guardiola’s side.
Rodri, however, lifted his fourth Premier League trophy with the Citizens since joining the Manchester club back in 2019.
Looking at the two midfielder’s individual campaigns, even though Rice played just under 300 more minutes in the Premier League than Rodri, the Spaniard still managed to rack up more goal contributions than the Gunners star (17 vs 15).
However, from a defensive point of view, Rice ended the campaign with a higher combined total of tackles and interceptions than the City midfielder (127 vs 96), although Rodri made more recoveries than the Englishman (235 vs 178).
As well as Fabregas, Rice himself even said back in April that Rodri is the best defensive-midfielder in the world right now, which, we feel, should end any debate about which player is better.