6 months ago
39 Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has discussed the motive behind his move to the Emirates Stadium.
The England international rejected a move to Manchester City last summer, who were newly crowned treble winners.
Rice joined Arsenal as he feels they are the “more exciting” project, as compared to Pep Guardiola’s team.
Rice was the subject of a formal proposal from Man City to West Ham United in late June, according to many reports.
Man City were offering a deal of £80 million plus a further £10 million in add-ons.
After the London Stadium club rejected the initial proposal, Arsenal came back with a new £105 million plan that included an initial £100 million and an additional £5 million in add-ons.
The former West Ham midfielder accepted the opportunity to play under Mikel Arteta instead of Guardiola.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Rice was questioned about his choice to turn down a summer offer from Man City in favour of Arteta’s Arsenal project.
He said: “This project seemed more exciting and that’s why I chose to come to Arsenal, because I believe we’re on to big things here.”
Declan Rice has been superb since joining Arsenal
In addition, Rice talked about how he lost out on playing in midfield with Rodri, but he still called the Spanish international one of the best players in the world.
He continued: “We’re different players, I feel. With Rodri, he was born in Spain, he’s always been a natural No 6. You can just tell by the way he plays that he’s worked under Pep [Guardiola] for so long.
“He’s a lot more structured than I am. I’d say I’m a lot more off-the-cuff. Obviously, this season I’ve been more structured. But in terms of the way I play, I feel like I’m being free a little bit more.
“There are different things that we complement each other on – but no doubt, he’s the best in the world.”
Time will tell if Rice will be happy with his decision to join Arsenal over Man City.
Arsenal and Man City are fighting for the league title
At the moment, both the clubs are involved in the Premier League title race, just like they were last season.
Man City hold the advantage over the Gunners as we enter the final month of the season.
If they win their remaining four matches, the Manchester club would be crowned champions again, for the fourth time in a row.
Arteta and his players would be hoping to take advantage of any slip up from Man City and dreaming of guiding the club to their first league title in twenty years.
