Arsenal may have dropped points for the first time since late September on Saturday, but Arsenal remain top of the Premier League heading into the international break.
Mikel Arteta’s side are four points behind second-placed Manchester City and have been absolutely sensational for the majority of the season, despite missing most of their attacking team.
Additionally, the players who have stayed healthy have stepped up significantly so far and now look like some of the best players in the country, if not Europe.
Of course, one of those stars is Declan Rice, but even the Englishman has outperformed Arsenal’s other most important player, a player who could become one of the best signings of the Premier League era.
Rice’s development at Arsenal
When Arsenal paid a club-record £105m for Rice in the summer of 2023, most fans expected him to come in and become one of the club’s first choice six players for the foreseeable future.
After all, he was first and foremost a defensive midfielder in East London, although he played in other positions for West Ham United as well.
Unsurprisingly, Arteta used the Englishman for the majority of the 23/24 season, making 31 appearances in midfield, 19 in central areas and one at centre-back.
But towards the end of that season, the manager had a record run of signings high up the pitch, a trend that continued into the following season, with the 26-year-old becoming more of an all-action, box-crushing left eight.
For example, by the end of the season, he played in 37 games in central midfield and only 15 as a number 6, but as a result his performance improved significantly, scoring 9 goals and providing 10 assists.
The former Hammers captain was expected to continue to play even more on the pitch this season, especially with the addition of Martin Zvimendi to the club, but once again, and for the third season in a row, his role has changed a bit.
The 70-capped Englishman still starts in central midfield, but as well as running forward into the opposition penalty area, he can also drop deep again, particularly to create a double pivot with his new Spanish team-mates.
Rice’s Arsenal career | |
|---|---|
Appearance | 120 |
begins | 109 |
minutes | 9613′ |
the goal | 18 |
assist | twenty five |
Number of goals involved per match | 0.35 |
Hours per goal involvement | 223.55 |
points per game | 2.10 |
All stats via Transfermarkt | |
This change is clearly visible in matches and on his heatmap, and he happily told reporters during the last international break that his manager had “adjusted my position a little bit at Arsenal this year, giving me a bit more freedom to not only go deeper but also to get into the box where possible.”
Add in his incredible dead-ball ability, and he already has five assists in addition to his two goals this season, and it’s easy to see why many consider Rice one of the best players in the league.
But no matter how well he has played this year, there is another Arsenal star who is doing even better, and who may be hailed as one of the club’s best signings of the Premier League era.
Arsenal star could become one of the best players in PL history
The good news for Arsenal fans and Arteta is that several players in the current squad could fit this description.
But when it comes to players who have taken another step up this season, it’s virtually impossible to ignore Gabriel Magalhães.
The Brazilian was once considered a bit of an underdog at the back and played just 32 games in all competitions for a total of 2,807 minutes in his first season at the club.
However, after his first campaign, he began to develop steadily and since then he has become quite valuable, although there were also rumors that he would be put up for sale in the summer of 2023.
In fact, William Saliba is considered the more educated of the two centre-backs, and although he was always linked with a move to Real Madrid before his contract was renewed, the Brazilian has arguably been the better player over the past two years.
Gabriel’s Arsenal record | ||
|---|---|---|
season | game | G+As |
25/26 | 17 | 5 |
24/25 | 42 | 8 |
23/24 | 50 | 5 |
22/23 | 48 | 3 |
21/22 | 39 | 5 |
20/21 | 32 | 4 |
All stats via Transfermarkt | ||
For example, he has almost completely eliminated the stupid mistakes that tarnished his reputation in the early stages and has become a giant of the rearguard.
Additionally, he’s more than capable of the cute passes his French partner likes to play, but he also has an old-school approach to the game.
He goes above and beyond with impeccably timed yet intense all-action challenges that bring fans to their feet.
Add to that the fact that he is 6ft 3in, a vocal leader and clearly someone who loves the art of defending, and it’s easy to see why Arsenal writer Adam Keyes described him as the Gunners’ ‘colossus’ at the back.
Now, the 27-year-old’s defensive contributions, which played a key role in the club’s eight consecutive clean sheets, are reason enough to classify him as one of the best additions of the Premier League era, but he is more than just a defender.
No defender has contributed more goals than the Brazilian since joining the league, racking up an impressive 22 goals and eight assists across all competitions.
It has become almost inevitable that the São Paulo-born monster’s name will be on the scoresheet at the end of a game this season, yet opponents remain unable to stop him.
After all, Rice is a world-class player, but Gabriel has been right above him in recent years, and especially this season, and could therefore become one of Arsenal’s best Premier League players ever.
