Ian Wright says Declan Rice’s form last season was ‘not normal’ and has hailed the midfielder for ‘transforming’ Arsenal and helping them rival Manchester City for the title.
Rice enjoyed an impressive first season at the Emirates Stadium following a £105m move from West Ham last summer, starting all but one of Arsenal’s Premier League games.
The 25-year-old was a reliable and calming presence in Mikel Arteta’s midfield and also provided a threat in the final third, contributing seven goals and providing eight assists.
Arsenal amassed 89 points – one fewer than the Invincibles’ team of 2003-04 – butstill missed out on a first league title in 20 years as Manchester City won the Premier League for a sixth time in seven seasons.
Club legend Wright was still able to take positives from the campaign, however, describing ‘underrated’ Rice’s performances as ‘not normal’.
‘Ben White has been magnificent, but I think the transformation in our team has been Declan Rice,’ he told the Daily Mirror. ‘Declan has to get a mention.
‘I think the reason we were able to push Manchester City even further this season is because of him and his eight, nine out of 10 performances every week.
‘I think his levels, and his consistency is something that is underrated. He’s getting a lot of love now and it’s rightly so, but I still think it’s underrated.
‘We are seeing it as normal and what the man’s doing at the moment for us is not normal, and fingers crossed, he can do it again next season.’
Despite missing out on the title, Rice enjoyed his first year at Arsenal and told club chief Josh Kroenke as much after the final day of the season.
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‘I was just speaking to Josh Kroenke on the pitch then,’ the England star told NBC Sports. ‘I just said, “It’s been everything I expected” – the class levels of the club is just phenomenal from top to bottom.
‘How everything is run. How all the staff are. How the manager runs the club. From top to bottom it is an amazing place.
‘I knew there would be expectations coming here. It’s Arsenal and they’ve not won the Premier League in 20 years, just back in the Champions League.
‘I’ve tried not to put too much pressure on myself and take it game-by-game. In football, you get confidence from games, and as the season went on we grew more and more.
‘It’s been better than I ever expected it to be, my first season, and there is so much more to come from me as well.’
Arsenal are expected to bolster Arteta’s squad with more signings this summer as they look to rival Man City again next season and lift the Premier League for the first time since 2004.
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