Declan Rice exclusive: Arsenal star 'seeing game in completely different way' under 'really impressive' Mikel Arteta
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Updated 12/08/2023 at 11:44 GMT+1
Declan Rice has heaped praise on Mikel Arteta after completing his British record transfer from West Ham to Arsenal. The midfielder highlighted the Arsenal manager's incredible attention to detail, as the club strives to compete with the best teams in European football. Rice has already won his first trophy at the Emirates after beating Manchester City in the Community Shield earlier this month.
Exclusive: Rice tells Ferdinand Arsenal is 'an exciting project to join' after £105m move
Declan Rice has said that working under Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is enabling him to see the game "in a completely different way" as, in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, the England midfielder opened up on life behind the scenes with the Gunners.
The 24-year-old left West Ham for the Emirates in a £105 million transfer last month and waxed lyrical about Arteta’s coaching acumen during a conversation with Rio Ferdinand.
Rice is set to make his Premier League bow for Arsenal this weekend when the Gunners host Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime, live on TNT Sports.
He said: “In the last four weeks, I’ve grown so much already and learned so much about football that I hadn’t seen before.
"I'm honestly seeing the game in a completely different way already. Tactically, on the ball, off the ball. I'm happy to know I'm learning so much because I'm trying to push myself to learn. Since the Community Shield, I feel I've taken a big step; everything is starting to click.
“I was blown away [by Arteta]; and working with him day-to-day, it’s just another level.
“Seeing how he works, how his mind operates, picking up stuff, seeing how he goes into detail on the opposition, and how he wants to improve us as players, individually and collectively, is really impressive.
“It’s just the finer details of what he goes into, so there are no excuses on matchday. You can’t say, ‘we’ve not worked on this or that'. You’re given everything and it’s literally down to you to go and perform. The finer details you go into are on another level, and I’ve never seen that before.
“From the moment I walked in the door, the thing that shocked me most is how much [winning] is drilled into the club, and the way the manager is drilling it into the players about winning, and not being far off being one of the best teams in the world.
"That's what excites me and that's why I came to Arsenal; to win things, to play under Mikel, and play with these players. It's such an exciting project to join.”
Rice also spoke about the hefty price tag associated with his move, and how the club’s successful past from the nineties and early noughties serves as motivation to win more trophies.
“I've not really spoken about it [the price tag],” he explained.
“You can only do what you can on the pitch and can't decide the price. People are always going to have opinions of what they value you at, in terms of the general public, the coaching staff and management, but I just want to play football.
“It's inspiration for me, for all of us here to be able to go in the same category as them by hopefully winning another Premier League or the Champions League.
“The older guys are still spoken about and respected. For young players like me to look up to someone like Patrick [Vieira] and see what he did for the club, and to know what the club means to him, is really special.”
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Declan Rice celebrates winning the Community Shield with Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
Image credit: Getty Images
The England international feels he has already been vindicated by his decision to move across the capital, and delivered an emphatic answer when quizzed about the team’s aim for this season.
“You only get one career. I'm only 24, but I just felt it was the right time to move and go and experience new things, to go and learn to put myself out there.”
How to watch Arsenal v Nottingham Forest?
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Arsenal v Nottingham Forest will be live on TNT Sports 1 from 11:00 BST on Saturday, August 12.
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