Graeme Souness claims Arsenal superstar is not worth the price the Gunners paid to sign him
Liverpool icon Graeme Souness believes that Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice is not worth the amount the Gunners paid for him. Rice joined from West Ham United for a substantial fee of over £100 million last summer and regularly featured under Mikel Arteta in his first season.
The 25-year-old midfielder played a key role for West Ham under David Moyes and helped the club win the Conference League trophy in his final season.
Consequently, he attracted significant transfer interest from two of the top teams in the league, Arsenal and Manchester City. The Gunners ultimately secured him for a club-record fee of £105 million, including £5 million in add-ons.
Arteta has deployed him both as a holding midfielder and in more advanced roles and he was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for his performances last season.
Rice has also been an important player for England, but Souness believes he is "over-hyped," partly due to the high transfer fee.
“When you talk about players who are over-hyped, you also have to factor in transfer fees, and Declan Rice comes to mind. I don’t think he is worth the £100 million that Arsenal paid for him," Souness mentioned on the Three Up Front podcast (via DailyMail).
Souness also added Manchester City’s Jack Grealish in this category. Grealish, who was signed from Aston Villa for £100 million, has shown his potential in flashes, but injuries have taken a toll on him. He scored only three goals and provided one assist in the Premier League last season.
"I would also mention Jack Grealish in that conversation. £100million is a lot of money, and for that, you’re looking at signing a world-class footballer. My definition of that is someone who gets into any team in the world. I think there are only a handful of world-class players in the Premier League at any one time," he added.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirms Mikel Merino injury
Mikel Merino, Arsenal’s latest signing in midfield, joined the Gunners from Real Sociedad for a reported fee of £32 million. The Spaniard is expected to strengthen Arsenal’s options and is viewed as a player who could operate on the left side of midfield.
However, it seems the 28-year-old sustained a shoulder injury during his first training session and is expected to be sidelined for the next few weeks. Arteta confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Merino will be unavailable for some time.
"It’s very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and got a shoulder injury. He’s going to be out for a few weeks. It’s really bad luck and we were all very excited. He was looking very good, he landed on the floor, Gabi went on top of him and it looks like he’s got a small fracture probably. He was in so much pain, so we have to wait and see with the staff to do some more tests to have more conclusive answers," Arteta said (via Arsenal's official website).
Arsenal, who have started the season on a positive note, are scheduled to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, August 31, before the international break. Following that, they will have two challenging away fixtures in the league, first against Tottenham Hotspur and then against Manchester City.