Rice makes ‘CRAZY’ Arteta admission: He made me realise I didn’t know anything about football
Robin Bairner
- 27 Jul 2023 04:46 CDT
- 3 min read
Arsenal signing Declan Rice has admitted that he has already made huge strides since working under manager Mikel Arteta.
Rice only joined the Gunners on 15 July, making a club-record move of €117 million from West Ham United after a drawn out transfer process.
The England international had only wanted a move to the Gunners since January, as FootballTransfers exclusively revealed, and after just a fortnight at the club, he is delighted to be working under a manager who can transform his perspective on the game.
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“It’s honestly crazy. I’m already seeing football in a completely different way,” Rice, who is under contract until 2028, told Sky Sports.
“You think you know football growing up and when you play, but when you meet managers like Mikel, you realise you don’t really know anything about football. There are different styles and different ways of playing that I’ve never experienced before.”
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Rice: It’ll take time to adapt to Arsenal
Rice admitted that it might be some time before the Arsenal fans see the best version of him, with the England star a surprisingly absentee from the Gunners’ 5-3 friendly success over Barcelona on Wednesday.
“Of course, the way I played at West Ham is completely different to the way Mikel plays, so it’s going to take some time to adapt. But I’m really eager to learn to improve, to ask questions, to do one-to-one training to improve and try and get it as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Hopefully once all that starts to click, Arsenal will be amazing. And of course I want to go up a few levels as well, which I know I can. So yeah, it’s really important that I adapt.”
Rice is expected to make his competitive Arsenal debut against Manchester City in the Community Shield, which will take place at Wembley on 6 August.
