That’s according to Ben Jacobs, who claimed on GiveMeSport that the Gunners could end up giving Rice more freedom to express himself in the attacking third of the pitch in the coming months.
Arsenal think Declan Rice could ‘suddenly explode’ like Jude Bellingham
Arsenal signed Declan Rice for a club-record fee in the summer – not just because he’s a world-class defensive midfielder but also because he has so much to offer in attack.
Mikel Arteta is one of the best tacticians around, but sadly, the Gunners boss hasn’t been able to deploy Rice in an attack-minded number eight role.
Thomas Partey has missed a large chunk of the season, and Rice’s defensive responsibilities have increased at Arsenal as a result.
Now, with Partey back, Rice could get more opportunities in an advanced role, and Jacobs has claimed that Arsenal feel he could ‘suddenly explode’ in that position.
He said on GiveMeSport: “I would be reticent to compare Rice and Bellingham directly. But the point of saying this is that if you look at Bellingham at Dortmund, he scored eight league goals over the course of 31 games in his final season.At Real Madrid, he has been given more license to push forwards and be more explosive. He sees more of the ball and has others working on the ball for him, which allows him to create more space than at Dortmund. He has already got eight goals in La Liga, which is the same total as he got in the Bundesliga at Dortmund last season, but in way fewer games.
“I think Arsenal feel like, to some extent, Rice has that potential to suddenly explode in an attacking sense if he is given that freedom.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he is given a bit more freedom and trialled in a more advanced position, especially because others in that central attacking midfield role – when utilised – haven’t always excelled.”
Thomas Partey could unlock Declan Rice
Thomas Partey‘s return from injury is a humongous boost for Arsenal.
The Ghanaian played the first three games of the season, but he was deployed at right-back by Mikel Arteta. That role is not for him at all, and we don’t expect him to play there anytime soon.
Arsenal’s best midfield is Partey, Rice and Martin Odegaard. That trio is capable of going up against most sides in the world, and we expect Arteta to use it more often than not in the coming months.
By doing so, the Arsenal boss will be able to allow Rice to worry less about defending and focus on the other end of the pitch. That could help him score and assist quite a few goals in the coming months.
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