Why Arsenal's Declan Rice is the world’s top all-action midfielder
Declan Rice is on a fantastic run in 2025, as he has become Arsenal’s focal point. Despite their injury troubles, the Gunners are in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals after beating 15-time winners Real Madrid. Rice played a huge role in the 5-1 aggregate win, as he scored two spectacular free kicks in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium on April 8.
With his performances for Arsenal, Rice has cemented his place as one of the world’s best midfielders. In fact, he is the best example of an ‘all-action midfielder’, as he is good at every facet of football. Find out more about Rice and why he deserves to be called an elite player.
Rice has elite versatility in midfield
In his youth football days, Rice was a centre-back, who took advantage of his elite athleticism and strength. Despite those traits of being a traditional CB, Rice progressed further up the pitch, as he became a defensive midfielder (#6) at West Ham United.
He became elite in that position, but people caught glimpses of him being an all-action midfielder there. Rice moved to Arsenal in 2023, where he continued playing at #6. A few months into his time at Arsenal, manager Mikel Arteta assigned him as a left-sided centre midfielder (#8).
This made him more influential on offence as he became Martin Ødegaard’s playmaking partner. Rice’s ball-carrying and attacking instincts helped him become a more impactful player. He is still impactful with his out of possession (OOP) work with interceptions, which shows his versatility as a well-rounded midfielder.
Rice perfectly blends the traits of elite midfielders
Rice has become an established elite player, but he is also a product of midfielders of previous eras. Declan plays tireless football akin to a well-rounded superstar, Steven Gerrard.
Rice’s impact on offence is similar to that of Paul Scholes or even Frank Lampard to some extent. With all these comparisons to former icons of the English game, it further cements Rice’s status as a world-class midfielder for Arsenal and the England national team.
Arsenal has maximised his skills as a top player
With Rice playing at this elite level, he can be considered one of the world’s best players. The performances against Real Madrid were already strong, but he deserves more recognition for what he has done in the past two seasons with Arsenal.
He will only improve with time, as he learns how to become a better playmaker and leader. Rice already has all the tools, he just needs to finish the job and win a trophy with Arsenal as they are a spectacular side that deserves some silverware.
