Declan Rice has revealed why he chose to join Arsenal rather than play alongside Rodri at Manchester City.
Prior to his move to Arsenal, Rice spent many lucrative years at West Ham United in London. He excelled in the youth team before breaking into the first team. So when Rice looked ready to leave his childhood club, a number of big clubs expressed their interest. Rice eventually moved to Arsenal to join Mikel Arteta's side and subsequently played in the Gunners' title race.
Manchester City were another team to express an interest in Rice, but West Ham rejected his £90million offer before Rice moved to the UAE. In an interview with The Athletic, the Arsenal midfielder was asked to elaborate on his reasons for his move to Arsenal.
He said: "The project looks more exciting and that's why I chose to come to Arsenal because I believe we can achieve something big here. Rice also spoke about missing the opportunity to partner Rodri in midfield, but praised the Spain international as one of the 'best in the world'.
He continued: "I feel like we're different players. Rodri was born in Spain and he has been a natural number 6. ”。 You can tell from the way he plays that he's been working under Pep [Guardiola] for so long. "He's more organized than I am. I'd say I'm more improvised. Obviously, I'm more organized this season. But in terms of the way I play, I feel like I'm freer. ”。 "We complement each other in a lot of ways – but there's no doubt that he's the best in the world. ”
Rice's debut season at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal proved to be fruitful, with him making 48 appearances in all competitions and scoring six goals.