Garth Crooks has heaped praise onto Declan Rice for the way he has improved since joining Arsenal from West Ham United in the summer.
The England international was already a hugely impressive performer during his time with the Hammers, but Crooks feels he seems to have added real leadership to his game since his arrival at the Emirates Stadium.
There’s no doubt Rice has been a hugely impressive performer for Arsenal so far, with no questions now about the enormous price tag the club paid for him – thought to be as high as £105m, as per BBC Sport‘s report at the time.
Rice put in another strong display for Arsenal as they earned a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool last week, and Crooks was clearly impressed with what he saw from the 24-year-old.
Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Crooks admitted that Rice has probably only improved further since leaving West Ham for Arsenal, and he could end up being key for Mikel Arteta’s side in their quest to win the title.
“Rice was impressive when he played for West Ham but he has added a real authority to his game,” Crooks said.
“It could prove to be the difference between Arsenal winning the title because of his reliability and them losing it with unpredictability and occasionally volatile Granit Xhaka. I know who I prefer.”