Arsenal cannot finalise their summer transfer plans until Mikel Arteta has made a final decision upon the future of Declan Rice.
Declan Rice has been a revelation for Arsenal.
He arrived at the Emirates Stadium from West Ham United last summer with a reputation as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League. Over the course of his debut campaign in North London, though, he proved himself capable of making an impact at both ends of the pitch.
Mikel Arteta has taken the England star to a new level. Rice has been granted greater freedom to push forward for the Gunners than ever before in his career, and has shown that he can provide an effective presence in the final third.
Arteta encouraged Rice to adopt a more advanced role for Arsenal, and was rewarded as the 25-year-old contributed a career-best return of seven goals and ten assists, across all competitions. The task facing the Spanish coach now is signing a midfielder who can complement Rice.
However, a firm decision on Rice’s primary role in the Arsenal team is still yet to be made.
Arsenal summer transfer plans halted by lack of Declan Rice decision
The Gunners are still yet to discuss and finalise their plans for Rice going forward.
According to journalist Ben Jacobs, speaking to GiveMeSport: “I think Arsenal are determining what they want to do in midfield. First, on an internal decision on Declan Rice.
“Because even though Rice is versatile, and that’s a bonus, on paper, at least, they want to define him. If they define him as a six, then they’ll move for an eight, and if they define him as an eight, then they’ll move for a six.
“So, before they’ve clarified Rice’s position, only on paper because it is obviously beneficial that he can be versatile, they won’t really know what kind of target they’re looking for.”
This situation certainly represents a problem, as once the Euros are out of the way, and the tournament will delay a great deal of transfer activity by itself, then the new season will suddenly seem very close indeed.
Signing a midfielder is a priority for Arsenal, so time is of the essence for Arteta and sporting director Edu to make a call when it comes to the profile of player they wish to pursue.
Rice set to underline importance to England
In the meantime, Rice will be desperate to make his mark on Euro 2024 himself. The Arsenal man is arguably England’s most important player this summer, largely due to the lack of a similar player in Gareth Southgate’s ranks.
Nobody else can perform the function in the middle of the park for the Three Lions that Rice does, as he is deployed in a more familiar, defensively-minded role for his country. He will almost certainly start this evening when England get their Euro 2024 campaign under way against Serbia. Bukayo Saka is also due to feature having passed a fitness test.
Arsenal players and transfer targets at Euro 2024
In this week’s episode of Cannon Fire – The Arsenal Insider Podcast, Will Jones and Rahul Lakhani discuss the European Championships. With 11 Arsenal players set to feature at the tournament, the pair debated which players could be fighting for their futures, and which are destined to succeed on the international stage.