In his first season at Emirates Stadium, Declan Rice played excellently, becoming an irreplaceable pillar in Mikel Arteta’s squad.

The more Declan Rice plays, the better and more diverse he becomes. 

To achieve the dream midfield, Mikel Arteta once thought he might need two players like Declan Rice. One would have the task of cleaning up at the back, while the other would surge forward to penetrate the opponent’s penalty area. However, perhaps the Spanish strategist now believes that only one is enough.

A goal and an assist in the 3-0 home win against Bournemouth last Saturday helped Rice reach the milestone of contributing to 15 goals in the Premier League in his first season at Arsenal (7 goals, 8 assists). Interestingly, the position of the English star is solely defensive midfield. Last season, when Granit Xhaka still held this position in Arsenal’s lineup, the Swiss midfielder’s numbers were only 7.

To achieve this efficiency, Rice should thank coach Arteta for using him very flexibly. Not only did he bind the £105 million signing to the “number 6” position, but Arteta also frequently pushed Rice up to play as a “number 8” to support Martin Odegaard.

Declan Rice is becoming an irreplaceable star for Arsenal.

Rice has started 35 matches this season, 23 of which have been in the “number 6” position. As the season has progressed, he has been used more often in the “number 8” position, specifically in 12 matches. While Arteta has great trust in Rice, seeing his pupil perform well in the final third of the opponent’s field rather than in the midfield surprised the Arsenal captain.

“We thought how many goals Rice would score would depend a lot on the space he would play in. Initially, there was some hesitation, but now Rice has shown us great confidence. It’s not easy for a player to still perform well when their position is changed. Therefore, he deserves praise,” Mikel Arteta shared.

Rice has never hidden his desire to play higher up the midfield. However, Arteta has expressed concerns that his protege may not be able to control his energy when surging into the opponent’s penalty area.

“With the ‘number 8’ position, players have to focus a lot on making runs without the ball to threaten the opponent’s defense from behind and to occupy space.

I’ve never tried doing that in my life, so this is the first season I’ve experienced it, and it’s really different,” Rice shared.

Declan Rice’s heat map from the beginning of the season shows that the midfielder is very willing to move around the field.

The decision whether to play Rice as a “number 6” or “number 8” in the future will directly impact the club’s personnel selection decisions this summer. Currently, Thomas Partey is considering leaving the team after losing his position to Declan Rice, while Mohamed Elneny’s contract is set to expire. Therefore, The Gunners will need to add a central midfielder in the upcoming transfer window.

However, if Rice no longer plays as a “number 6” and focuses solely on playing as a “number 8,” Arteta may not purchase a central midfielder. Instead, he may push someone like Zinchenko to play as a defensive midfielder or seek another model to replace Rice. Conversely, Arteta may look at some rising names like Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle) or Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad).

In the coming season, if Jurrien Timber returns to stability after his injury, Arteta will have more options as both Timber and Kai Havertz are very flexible.