Arsenal star Declan Rice has been sensational since his club-record move from West Ham last year, and he is continuing to grow under Mikel Arteta.
The 25-year-old was already one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League, and he has gone up a level at Arsenal in both a deep midfield role as well as further up the pitch.
Rice started the season as a defensive midfielder shielding the back four, but finished it as an advanced number eight alongside Martin Odegaard, and registered 16 goals and assists in the Premier League.
The England star has certainly improved under Mikel Arteta, and even his old manager David Moyes has highlighted the impact of the Spaniard on him.
David Moyes praises Declan Rice improvement under Mikel Arteta
Speaking to talkSPORT, Moyes highlighted Rice’s improvement in attack as one he could have predicted, but credited Arteta for getting the best out of him.
“I think, Mikel, you know, it’s a bit like sometimes you want to take credit. Mikel has done a great job with him,” he stated.
“There were things that you will know and we know that maybe Declan wasn’t quite as good at sometimes, bits of his games, but I think the bit with the punditry and people who watch football picked out, they always said can he score a goal, can he break forward, can he make a key pass?
“Well, I think Mikel and Declan have gone on and showed exactly that he can. He is now becoming a bit of a set-piece expert for Arsenal as well. He strikes the ball so hard, so fast that the speed of the ball movement is actually part of the set-piece delivery.”
Declan Rice has become creative monster under Arteta at Arsenal
Rice’s output of seven goals and nine assists was by far his best total in a Premier League season, and a big factor in his increased output was his move to become a set-piece taker in January.
The midfielder has often found William Saliba or Gabriel Magalhaes with accurate deliveries from corners, and this has unlocked another level of his attacking play.
In recent months, Jorginho or Thomas Partey have sat at the base of midfield whilst Rice has pushed forward, and this has seen him contribute a lot more in the final third. Combined with his defensive excellence, Rice is becoming a truly complete midfielder at Arsenal.