COMMENT: Declan Rice and Arsenal. Beyond Mikel Arteta. Beyond Edu. The Kroenkes have their franchise player. Not only one to build a team around, but also a club...
A British record, yes. But it's a record £105m well spent. As we say, to use the Kroenke family's vernacular, West Ham's departing captain has all the qualities to be Arsenal's franchise player. Even the bean counters would have to agree. A 10-year prospect. At what...? A bit over 10m quid a year? For everything Rice will bring to the club, Arsenal have themselves a bargain.
For Rice, that'll be reciprocated. Moving to Arsenal will take his game to the next level. The highest level. Those passes will stick. Those late runs will be seen. Playing with better players will make him better. And significantly, after so many years of doubts and underachievement, the Gunners can now offer the likes of Rice the (almost) guarantee of competing for top honours.
For this column, Rice is the modern day version of Bryan Robson. The Robson of the mid-1980s Manchester United. It was basically the England captain and 10 others. He'd score goals. He'd save goals. Win tackles. Create chances. This is what we saw from Rice at Old Trafford last season. He covered every blade of grass. It was a Robson-esque performance played out in front of an impressed Erik ten Hag. It's no surprise United's manager is furious the club's drawn out takeover prevented him from competing for Rice's signature. In terms of auditions, he aced his back in May.
For Arsenal fans, these are heady days. Unique days. This column cannot recall such a moment in the club's history. £65m committed to prise Kai Havertz away from Chelsea. £105m relayed to West Ham for Rice. And if it all goes to plan, Jurrien Timber could be confirmed as a £40m arrival from Ajax by the weekend. £220m spent in a matter of three or four days. Gooners have never seen this before. This isn't plucking Thierry Henry from off the bench at Juventus. Or Patrick Vieira from AC Milan's Primavera team. These are established top-flight players. Internationals. Matchwinners. Match-savers. For Arsenal, this is groundbreaking stuff.
And it goes further. If a new rivalry has been found. If it has developed over the past year. Then Arsenal burning off the competition of Manchester City for Rice's signature cannot be underestimated.
In the week City lose their captain - and midfield general - Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona, the Gunners will welcome their own version of the German to London Colney. Where City's midfield has been weakened. Arsenal's will be strengthened. And this came down in no small way to manager Arteta and the work of his technical director Edu.
We now have news of Arteta inviting Rice to his family home. It was there he detailed his plans for both the England international and his Arsenal team. The meeting ran smoothly. Positively. And at the end, Arteta farewelled Rice convinced he would be joining the Gunners dressing room. But while such groundwork was being laid, at City, at the same time, Pep Guardiola was still celebrating the Treble. He was then back in Spain playing golf. It's unfair, we admit, but it's football. It's the business of football. And Pep, more than anyone, knows the fine margins between success and failure.
Yes, City ushered in Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea earlier in the week (an excellent signing). But they were still eager to land Rice. That £90m offer to match Arsenal's second bid was lodged after Kovacic had signed. The defeat of City in this transfer battle cannot be played down.
Against City, home and away, Arsenal were found out last season. We discussed it here. Pep turned to his warriors. His Dogs of War. And they simply battered and blew Arteta's youngsters off the park. The arrival of Rice will go some way to combatting this physical deficit.
As we say, where City have been weakened, Arsenal are now strengthened. Just consider the alternative. What psychological blow would City have inflicted if Rice had been convinced to move north instead of across London? Would Arsenal have recovered? Would the dressing room? Sure, Arteta and Edu will argue they had a list of alternatives. But this would've floored them. It would've floored the club. And in the minds of many, made City untouchable.
Instead, it is Arsenal which have landed this shot. City are hardly reeling, we'll admit that. But going head-to-head with the Treble winners and coming out on top...? This deal means so much more than a simple big money transfer.
In Declan Rice, the Kroenkes have their franchise player. A 10-year player. And for Arsenal. For the support. It's a deal which fires an early season shot across the bows of Manchester City. Bring on 2023/24.
