Declan Rice proves he's ready for Arsenal after taking Mikel Arteta's midfield advice on board

Declan Rice has proved he is ready for an Arsenal move after making an important change to his game.

While the Gunners are still focused on claiming their first Premier League title in 19 years, they also have one eye on the summer window.

The club have been linked to a series of midfielders, including Moises Caicedo, Mason Mount and Rice.

Indeed, Arsenal are virtually guaranteed to offer Champions League football at the Emirates next season and have reportedly identified the West Ham star as their number-one transfer target.

And with the summer transfer window fast approaching Rice’s form has hit new heights. Fresh from scoring his side’s third goal against Gent in midweek, the 24-year-old struck again against Bournemouth at the weekend.

Having netted in consecutive games, should Rice score one more goal before the season’s end he could match his best-ever tally for a campaign.

Arteta wants goals

If Rice signs for the Gunners he would most likely compete with Granit Xhaka for a place in the midfield, with Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard more certain of their spots.

Earlier this season Arteta revealed he had challenged Xhaka to add more goals and assists to his game, something the Switzerland international has since done.

Speaking to Sky Sports Arteta said: “I think it was a necessity.

“The squad wanted to evolve to another level and be more dominant and have more resources in the final third to attack and to score more goals. We needed to make that change.

“I spoke to him at the end of the season and said, ‘I need to unlock something in your brain because you’re so comfortable and confident playing in this area that you have forgotten that actually what is going to win us the game is here and the team now demands somebody here, so unless you unlock that I’m going to have to do something about it’.

“He took it straight away. He’s a very intelligent player, he came to pre-season fitter than ever, and slimmer than ever.

“And he knew that if we wanted to take the team to a different level we had to change his role. He knew that was coming.”

Indeed, Xhaka has registered seven goals this term, one more than Rice. Goalscoring is arguably the only part of the 30-year-old’s game that is stronger than Rice’s, however, if the West Ham captain continues to provide a threat going forward, he could match or surpass the Arsenal player.

Topics: Football, Arsenal, Declan Rice, Granit Xhaka, Transfers

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.