A good way to judge whether or not a transfer has been a success is to count how often you hear commentators, pundits or the media reference the price tag.
If the player is struggling, the transfer fee is a talking point.
For example, anyone with a slight interest in Premier League football could tell you that Casemiro cost an initial £60m when he joined Manchester United. They’d also be able to tell you that Darwin Nunez cost Liverpool £85m with add-ons.
Certain transfer fees are tied to certain expectations. When a player isn’t performing to the level people feel they should be, the price tag is a talking point.
However, when their performances are consistently brilliant, you rarely hear about the transfer fee, regardless of how big it is. Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk fell into this category when they helped Liverpool go from runners-up to champions of everything, for example.
Declan Rice is firmly in this category too following after bossing things for Arsenal this season.
The pressure on him after he moved to the Emirates was massive, to put it bluntly. Rice had rejected a move to champions Manchester City in favour of a switch to Arsenal. The England international was committed to the project being pieced together by Mikel Arteta. The Gunners reciprocated this commitment by agreeing to pay £100m for the services of the midfielder.
With add-ons, Rice would become the most expensive English player in history, eclipsing the fee Manchester City paid to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa.
Highest rated central midfielders in the Premier League this season:
◎ 7.62 – Rodri
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) May 7, 2024
◎ 7.40 – Declan Rice
◎ 7.37 – Martin Ødegaard
◎ 7.34 – Bruno Guimarães
◎ 7.19 – Pascal Gross pic.twitter.com/ggCc1L62pN
Arsenal had finished as runners-up during the 2022/23 campaign despite leading the way for large parts of the season. Many thought it would be difficult for Rice to have such a transformative impact on this team. How was he going to justify the price tag? Was it even possible?
If there had been doubts over this transfer, he’s put them to bed.
Bizarrely, Rice has made the £100m fee look to be a bargain for the Gunners. That is how influential he has been in their pursuit of the Premier League title.
The 25-year-old has been key at both ends of the pitch for Arteta’s men.
Arsenal have the best defence in the Premier League and having anchored the midfield for the majority of the campaign, Rice has certainly played his part. The Gunners have conceded just 0.8 goals per 90 this term and their underlying numbers suggest this is completely sustainable with their Expected Goals Against average coming in at 0.75 per 90.
For context, last season, Arsenal allowed 1.1 goals against and had an Expected Goals Conceded average of 1.11 per 90. This may only seem like a small decrease but over a 38-game campaign, it is a difference of 13.7 goals. This isn’t solely down to the introduction of Rice but if you’re looking to quantify what he does, this may be a good place to start.
Going forward, he’s played his part too. The 50-cap international has seven goals, the highest return of his Premier League career, and eight assists, double his previous best prior to the switch to the Emirates. He’s been tasked with taking corners for the Gunners and despite the pressure of having to produce, he’s delivered. Rice has assists in each of his last three Premier League games, a run in which Arsenal have taken maximum points to keep their title hopes alive.
He’s not only coping with the pressure, but he’s also delivering in big moments. He’s scored against Manchester United and Chelsea while assisting in wins over Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle United and West Ham United.
Rice has a WhoScored average rating of 7.40 this term, the highest of his career in the English top flight. If Arsenal win the league, he should be in the conversation for the Player of the Year as well as the signing of the summer. The powerhouse midfielder has made the £100m transfer fee look like nothing, and that alone is a huge achievement.
