So often, we see expensive new signings become victims of their own price tag. Rare is it that a record signing gets dubbed a bargain by fans and rivals alike, but it seems the world can’t fault Declan Rice’s transfer to Arsenal. Why?

The responsibility Mikel Arteta has put on Rice’s shoulders already is a very clear indicator as to just how highly he rates the 24-year-old. Used as a single pivot in a midfield three, he’s always been the player who allows others to roam free and steal the show. However, the average positions of his two fellow midfielders this season have been abnormally high up. Arsenal look to have a front five more often than not when they’re on the ball, and this gives Rice an abundance of space in which to work the ball — shuttling the play from one side to the other before spotting an opening. On the flip side, this also gives Rice an awful lot of ground to cover defensively, but it’s a compliment to him that Arteta feels safe playing this way, and Arsenal have scarcely been threatened on the counter-attack this season. 

Compared to last year, when Arsenal deployed more of a double-pivot with Granit Xhaka, who would make later runs forward and from a deeper position than the likes of Kai Havertz, this term’s tactics show more confidence in their pivot’s protective capabilities. 

When Arsenal lose the ball in the final third, half of their team is rendered redundant until they can track back to be ball-side again. This requires Rice to position himself intelligently to at least slow down opposition attacks. Rice likes to be more aggressive than this, however, and he’s displayed an exceptional ability to accurately judge his spacing and timing to record the most interceptions of any player from a team in the top half of the table this season. He’s also registered more tackles than any player in the top four teams of the table. 

On the ball, one facet that makes Rice so accomplished is his adaptability to playing in different positions and situations. He has a great sense of surrounding, which is crucial for a pivot midfielder who will usually receive the ball with their back to the play. Rice knows when to set the ball back to a teammate and when to turn instead. Often described as ‘press resistant’, he’s not afraid to draw an opposition player towards him before beating them on the turn. 

From his days as a centre-back in the academy, Rice became proficient at facing forward, too, with the option to spray progressive passes or drive forward with the ball. This is what gave him the tools to be able to take off on those driving runs in midfield for West Ham, expressing the qualities more commonly associated with a No.8 than a pivot (No.6). 

Arsenal found success in deploying him as a No.8 earlier this season, and his progressive carries massively exceeded those of Xhaka in the corresponding position last year in North London.