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Declan Rice hailed as Arsenal’s most ‘important’ player

By Ritayan Chatterjee on November 21, 2025

Former Arsenal forward Alan Smith has hailed Declan Rice as the Gunners’ most ‘important’ player.

Mikel Arteta’s side decided to purchase the 26-year-old by breaking their transfer record a couple of years ago, having been impressed by his performances for West Ham United.

The Englishman initially played as a centre-back before becoming a defensive midfielder under David Moyes at London Stadium. However, Arteta has been using him as a box-to-box midfielder, which has brought the best out of him.

The midfielder netted only 15 goals and registered 13 assists in 245 appearances for the Hammers, but has already made 41 goal contributions in 120 matches for Arsenal.

Gareth Southgate deployed Rice in a CDM role for England, but after seeing his success as a No.8, the Three Lions’ new boss, Thomas Tuchel, has followed Arteta’s lead by using him in a box-to-box role.

Now, during a recent interview (via Metro), Smith says that although Arsenal have lost a few key players like Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka due to injury problems this season, they have enough depth to cover those absences, which has allowed them to maintain their level.

Pundit lauds Rice

The same applies to their defence following the arrival of Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié this summer. However, Arsenal don’t have a like-for-like replacement for Rice, so if he were to pick up an injury, that would be a huge loss.

The 26-year-old is currently the most ‘important’ player of Arsenal and is irreplaceable. Sumit said:

“We’ve seen Arsenal lose a couple of key players, haven’t we? Martin Odegaard was perhaps the main one but [Eberechi] Eze came in and we haven’t really seen a drop-off.

“Declan Rice would be a big loss if he got injured because you would lose that drive in midfield and his set-piece ability which has become so important. They haven’t really got anybody to replace Rice.

“The defence has been superb but even at the back, [Cristhian] Mosquera has come in at times and they’ve got [Piero] Hincapie as well, so Rice would be the biggest loss for me.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal have continued to struggle with fitness problems this season. With Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Odegaard already out, Gabriel Magalhaes has now sustained a muscular problem and may be sidelined until next year.

The Brazilian’s absence is a huge blow for Arsenal as he is a leader, and the Emirates club will face off against Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the next three games.