European Championship final he was bloody brilliant.
I trust the talent ID if he is the main target.
Think he’d be great deputising for Partey or Xhaka
When I think of young English DM prodigies I think of Ross Barkley 
Barkley? DM?
You thinking of Rodwell?
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Or Lee Cattermole?
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Didn’t Barkley play CM/DM?
Either way I was on that hype train at the time.
He was an attacking midfielder. He was likened to Rooney(lol) when he was breaking through.
I thought he was a top prospect early on to be honest.
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Maybe it was because of his build I always assumed he played in center mid.
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I’m saying no to Rice purely based on the assumption that his transfer fee will probably impact our ability to sign other key reinforcements (2 x forwards one of which needs to be marquee, Tierney and Holding upgrades potentially, probably another midfielder too).
However, in isolation, he would be a very good all-round addition to the squad.
He’s not Partey…tbf I’m not sure there’s anybody at Partey’s level in terms of quality + influence right now barring Casemiro and Rodri. Anyway, I’m not swapping any #6 in the world for Partey. For me, he’s playing at the level Fabinho was at his peak for Liverpool which is the highest compliment I can pay him. The best in his position in the world right now, that’s all I can say. @SRCJJ been laying facts up in here on this already.
Anyway, Rice - he’s a 7.5/10 in every attribute. He can do everything to a very high standard. He doesn’t have a single technical or physical weakness. A rare player in that regard.
But I do think under Arteta, with that added level of tactical instruction and coaching, he could go to another level altogether.
Not sure where he would play - alongside Partey as a marauding 8? The 6 position when we need to rotate / rest Partey? He can do either position so he’d get lots of game time. For £80-100m…that’s just too much imo.
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One last thing though, if we do sign him then I’d be mega excited ofc.
Fuck trusting the process - I’m shagging the process now. I back Arteta to turn Rice into a monster.
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People are beginning to understand that Arteta can turn players careers around and that he is a goto manager if you want to progress/goto the next level - lets hope more players want to come to us to develop themselves further.
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Is Rice a better midfielder than Partey? No but Rice profiles better in the 6 spot and has always done so. Rice is a specialist 6, basically the English Rodri
Throughout a game his energy in midfield helps to maintain order and at times it feels like he never stops running. No player has won possession in the midfield third more times than Rice (104) in the Premier League this season, which is the joint highest in Europe’s top five leagues. Additionally, his awareness would play a pivotal role in Arteta’s team, who often commit a lot of players forward when attacking, so the fact that he has made more ball recoveries of loose balls of outfielders in the Premier League this season (178) would be a big help in keeping control.
…
In terms of successful dribbles, he ranks fifth among Arsenal players (11) this season, with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli (31) and Gabriel Jesus (27) ranking in the top five in the league overal. What’s more, Rice’s 24 shots ranks fifth as well among the Gunners’ current crop of players.Another side of Rice’s game that ranks highly and would be of particular interest to Arsenal of course, is his overall passing game. His pass success rate ranks second (89.8%) compared to Arsenal players, behind only centre-back William Saliba (92%), while his 1.3 key passes per game is a decent return for a player whose starting position is deep in the midfield. Too further emphasise his range of passing, Rice ranks third in the league for successful final third passes (286), behind only Rodri (356) and Kevin De Bruyne (321) and just two passes ahead of Xhaka (284), underlining the similarity to their games.
Even looking at more direct defensive metrics, he has 45 tackles and 29 interceptions in the league this season, which is better than any player in the Gunners squad, and which both rank highly in the league overall. It is difficult for any player to get past Rice, noted in that he has been dribbled past just six times - a tackle success rate of 88.2% is the ninth best of the 146 players to attempt 25 or more tackles in the Premier League this season - underling the sort of quality he would bring, whether as a starter or even backup to Partey.
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If we can finalise a move for Rice and Trossard that would be a pretty decent window for us.
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For me this move only works if we have a real left eight playing. Xhaka has played that position very well but he’s not really the right profile for it.
Rice is 100% a summer signing, won’t happen in January.
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If we offer them what we offered Shaktar, will they decline?
Arteta will do incredible work with Rice.
Honestly this would be a gamechanger of a signing
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Trossard and Rice > Mudryk and Tielemans or whoever else they were looking at for CM.
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that would almost be a perfect window for us…
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