Arsenal star Declan Rice exchanged text messages with Rio Ferdinand following Sunday’s win over Manchester City. One of the responses from the Gunners midfielder speaks volumes about his character and impact at the Emirates since his summer move.
Rice became the most expensive player in Arsenal’s history in July. After a long-running transfer saga, he finally completed a move across London from West Ham for a fee worth up to £105million.
He has settled into life under Mikel Arteta immediately, starting every game in both the Premier League and Champions League so far. One of the reasons Arsenal signed Rice was to make a difference in the big games and Sunday he did just that.
Rice and Arsenal didn’t have the easiest first halves against City but their hard work in the opening 45 paid off after half-time. Ferdinand has revealed that he messaged Rice, saying credit must be given because no one is discussing how much he cost.
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But Rice’s reply highlighted how he has not allowed the mega move to get to his head, insisting he is only performing now as he did at West Ham. Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents Five: “You know what, I text Declan this morning and just said testament to you, that no one’s talking about the price tag.
“And his response was absolutely bang on. Declan said: ‘Come on, I was doing the same thing at West Ham, Ri, and no one wanted to speak about it’.
“It’s true. What I said about Jude Bellingham before, transferring the level of performance and impact on your team, he’s transferred that to Arsenal.”
Ferdinand was impressed with what he saw from Rice against treble winners City. The former Manchester United defender says it takes a lot to move to a club the size of Arsenal and stamp your authority as much as Rice has.
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Ferdinand added: “You see what he did on the edge of his own box yesterday a couple of times. He shut down the guy who came on as a sub, Matheus [Nunes]. He’s an unbelievable runner with the ball by the way. Declan said ‘Just give me the ball man, give me the ball’.
“It takes personality, it takes character to be able to walk into a dressing room immediately and go ‘I’m the guy’. That’s what it seems like.
“His whole persona at the moment is saying to me ‘Listen, if you’re under a bit of pressure, throw it to me and I’m going to alleviate that pressure and I’ve got the b******s to do it’. He’s doing that with the ball, he’s doing it without it.
“It’s like ‘If you need anyone to go and show someone what time it is, I’m the guy, step out the way, Declan’s coming’. That’s how he’s moving and I love it.”
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