Arsenal have a number of top-class players in their squad.
Mikel Arteta has been at the helm at the Emirates for over five years now, and he has assembled a fantastic group of players.
That has helped the Gunners challenge for the Premier League title three years in a row, and although they haven’t won anything yet, it has to be said that they are on the right track.
All of Europe’s elite clubs would love to land several Arsenal players if they had the chance. Paolo Di Canio already knows who he would sign first.
Paolo Di Canio explains why Arsenal’s Declan Rice would be his dream signing
Arsenal signed Declan Rice for a club-record fee in the summer of 2023.
The Englishman developed into one of the best midfielders in the Premier League at West Ham United, and several top clubs were keen to sign him.
Manchester City were in the mix, as were Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich at the time, but it was Arteta who won the race in the end.
Pep Guardiola even admitted that Rice chose Arsenal over Manchester City in 2023.
Di Canio knows the Englishman very well thanks to his love for West Ham, and the Italian has named Rice as the one player he would love to sign if he returned to management.
He told Football Italia: “Declan Rice, for me, every time. He is a pure leader. He is one of the best midfielders in the world because he’s not elegant like many others.
“He doesn’t need to be captain to be a strong leader. The way he behaves is great. He’s a leader by example–whether that be in training or international teams. Nobody wants a bad story to come out, you know. It can happen when they go out to parties or whatever. He appears different to other British players.
“You can see it clearly that he has got ambitions to become the best like Lampard was for many years and Bellingham now – who’s pure talent obviously.
“But Rice, in the middle, and away child. 187, good physically, very strong. It’s so difficult for him to get injured because he’s got pure energy in his body, his muscles are perfect, and his elasticity is powerful. He is a fantastic footballer. I would pick him as a midfielder for sure.”
Declan Rice could beat his own personal record this season
There were a few questions asked when Arsenal splashed over £100 million to sign Rice.
The likes of Graeme Souness repeatedly questioned if Rice was worth that money because he felt that the midfielder could not contribute enough in attack.
The Arsenal number 41 silenced those critics by directly contributing to 17 goals last season – seven goals and 10 assists. That was his best-ever output in a single campaign.
In the final weeks of this season, Rice could better his own record.
The England international has five goals and eight assists to his name so far. Three goals and three assists in the remaining games will be enough to make this his best-ever campaign.
Arsenal are guaranteed to play 10 more games this season, and that number could go up to 13 if they reach the Champions League final.
