Mikel Arteta has built a superteam at Arsenal over the last five years.
While the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba were signed under Unai Emery, and Bukayo Saka made his debut under the former manager, the Gunners’ former captain has signed a host of world-class players since taking the job.
Arguably, the best player to join the North Londoners over the last few years has been Declan Rice, who is now undoubtedly one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, if not the world.
So it’s encouraging that Arteta already looks to have his ideal heir for the Englishman in the squad today.
Rice’s development at Arsenal
This season is Rice’s third at Arsenal, and while he’s been a crucial member of the team since his first, his role has changed year-on-year.
For example, he spent most of the 23/24 campaign playing at the base of midfield, as the club’s go-to six, making 31 appearances there, 19 in central midfield and just one at centre-back.
However, towards the end of that first year and most of last season, Arteta decided to move him slightly further up the pitch, into the left-eight.
In all, the Englishman ended up making 37 appearances in the middle of the park and just 15 in defensive midfield, which helped him end the campaign with an impressive tally of nine goals and ten assists, although plenty of the latter came from set-pieces.
Going into this season, most fans and pundits alike expected Arteta to keep playing his £105m further up the pitch, especially as he proved himself to be a brilliant box-crasher last season.
However, while his statistics do show him starting more games in central midfield – eight to five – he is actually now playing that little bit deeper again, often interchanging with the sensationally gifted Martin Zubimendi.
The former West Ham United captain has even said as much, telling reporters after England’s game against Wales earlier this month that the manager has “adjusted my position at Arsenal a bit this year to give me a bit more freedom to drop deeper but to also get in the box when I can.”
You can see evidence of him playing that little bit deeper at times this season in his underlying numbers.
For example, according to FBref, he is completing 7.47 progressive passes and 2.91 progressive carries this year, compared to 6.11 and 2.87 last season.
In all, Rice remains one of Arsenal’s most important players and an archetypal all-action midfielder, so it’s good news that Arteta and Co already have his perfect heir in the squad.
Arsenal’s Rice heir
Now, upon first glance, it might not be immediately apparent who the Rice heir in Arsenal’s squad is.
After all, Christian Nørgaard is 31, and Zubimendi is the same age as the Englishman at 26.
However, instead of being among the club’s current crop of midfielders, the ideal long-term replacement for the former West Ham United captain is down as a defender, and it is, of course, Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The Hale End gem, whose “talent is scary” according to one content creator, might play almost exclusively as a left-back for the first team, but he spent much of his time in the junior game playing in the middle of the park, and the skills he picked up there have shone through for the senior side at times.
For example, against Atlético Madrid, he picked up the ball in the middle of the park, drove past half the side and delivered the ball into Gabriel Martinelli’s feet for the Gunners’ second goal.
That run demonstrated several skills needed to make it as a top-quality central midfielder, such as the physicality to hold off defenders, the close control to get past them, the understanding of space, and, crucially, the weight of the pass at the end.
Moreover, the ability to drive with the ball like he did is one of Rice’s best traits, so while Arteta and the coaching staff will have to work on transitioning the teenager from full-back to midfield over the coming years, they can rest easy knowing he’s already an elite ball player.
There are other reasons why the Islington-born gem could become as sensational an eight in the future, though, such as his mentality.
For example, it’s so easy to forget that he is still so young, as it seemingly does not matter who he is up against, be it Real Madrid or Manchester City, the Hale Ender is, as Rice put it himself, utterly “fearless.”
It’s this willingness to challenge any attacker or try to beat any defender without hesitation that has also led club insider Hand of Arsenal to label the young gem a “future captain,” a title many have also given the former West Ham star.
Ultimately, given Rice’s age, Arsenal do not need to worry about replacing him just yet. Still, when they do eventually have to, they’ve already got the perfect candidate in Lewis-Skelly.
