Declan Rice's vow to Arsenal teammates with Arteta's long-term view in focus

17 August 2023 , 09:40

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Declan Rice's vow to Arsenal teammates with Arteta's long-term view in focus

Arsenal's £105million man Declan Rice has vowed to keep the same dressing room habits he had at West Ham over the course of his Gunners career.

The England international was famed for being an outspoken figure with the Hammers crop and was earmarked as a future captain from early on. Rice went on to don the armband for the east London outfit and remained a talismanic skipper right up to his final day with West Ham.

It is believed that the leadership qualities Rice so often showed for both David Moyes' men and the Three Lions were a big factor behind Mikel Arteta's decision to fork out so much on the 24-year-old. Thankfully for the Gunners boss, his expensive new addition has pledged he won't be changing anytime soon.

Rice shed light on the dressing room dynamic at the Emirates and discussed the amount of leaders Arsenal actually boast within their ranks. That can only be a positive for both the Gunners as a collective and Rice individually; he certainly seemed to think so.

Arsena's record signing told TNT Sports : "I feel like obviously we have some big international players here. International captains, [and] obviously, Martin [Ødegaard] is our skipper. Because we have these other big characters as well it's just for me to add.

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"I'm not going to shy away from what I was at West Ham. If I've got something to say I'll say it and if I can help anyone I'll help, but of course there's loads of other big captains as well. The leadership group is really good. It's about just sticking together and trying to push each other as much as possible."

Rice has enjoyed a positive start to life at Arsenal so far, winning the Community Shield and putting in a stellar performance in the Gunners' opening Premier League game of the season against Nottingham Forest, resulting in a 2-1 victory.

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Declan Rice has talked up Arsenal's leadership group, including captain Martin Odegaard

Arteta has already waxed lyrical about Rice's personality and how that can help the side. Pressed for comment on what he expects the former West Ham captain to bring to the team, the Spaniard explained: "His leadership, his aura, obviously the experience he already has in this league.

"He’s going to bring the team to a different dimension. He’s got the physical qualities that we’ve been missing for a while, that’s why we had to do what we had to do to get him, because he’s really important for us."

Long before the Gunners actually secured Rice's signature, reports were rife that Arteta views the 24-year-old as a potential future Arsenal captain. The England ace is widely expected to become part of the club's recognised leadership group.

Rice has made no secret of the fact he aims to get Arsenal challenging for the game's biggest honours once again, but for now his full focus will be on Monday night's tricky trip to Crystal Palace.

Josh O'Brien