Not sure he’s relevant here…
But yeah I can’t remember who it was, perhaps @Limiescouse, who pointed out before that the other top clubs aren’t exactly breaking down the doors to sign him… Sure, that’s not a solid indicator, but surely it does make one wonder?
I think he’s a top midfielder. Just don’t see how he moves the needle substantially at Arsenal.
It’s just Arteta thinking , I need a Rodri , so let me get the closest guy possible considering Rodri isn’t available.
Jorginho is already confirmed as leaving so they have a gap to fill, but in all honesty a body was really all he was this season.
There is a version of Arsenal that has played well with Jorginho pulling the string behind Rice and this looks to be a commitment to solidifying that approach, but that is where a lot of the questions come from. Is Rice as essentially an 8 the best way forward for them.
There has been a lot of interest in him for years. But him continuing to stay at Sociedad was generally understood to be him keeping himself available for Barca who kept making promises to him but acknowledging they didn’t have the financial room to do it right now. The opening we sensed last summer was seemingly his first realization that waiting forever for Barca was wasting his career.
And where exactly was Arsenal’s defensive play lacking this season ?.
I seem to recollect that they were pretty solid this year in defense.
Possibly good that Cheaty didn’t buy him and they are still reliant on a (hopefully) brittle Rodri.
Good point. I was worried that they would try to get him this summer, as he’d have been a good reinforcement for them.
I wouldn’t necessarily be against a player like Zubimendi in the team.
But I would rather we train Bajcetic to be such a guy now. Considering that Grav has made his spot his own.
And one thing to note , requiring a pure #6 probably isn’t needed the way football is moving. Both Grav and Mac aren’t pure 6s. We won the league with 3 box to box midfielders essentially.
Booooo-bimendi? 
@PeachesEnRegalia . Your thoughts ?
They were and weren’t the amount of leads they gave up was concerning.
Not as much concerning as the lack of potency in attack once most teams found out their setpiece routine.
It was worse 3, 2 nil leads given up people blamed the attack but they concede goals at the least opportune moments.
I don’t recollect where arsenal did that.
2-0 perhaps.
But their main problem wasn’t in defense. Still isn’t.
They did give up some goals when they went attacking. But that was more to do with their attack being toothless.
And also being very shit at defending setpieces. But then again , it’s not a midfield issue.
He also isnt a defender so this line of argument is a bit confusing.
He is seemingly being brought in because he is much better than Party at using the ball and will supposedly help Arsenal be more penetrative in their passing in games where they have lots of possession. I get that Rice added goals to his game, but I think it’s a reasonable to ask whether their lack of penetration was at least in part caused by having him as an 8 in most of their games.
Did arsenal ever have a problem with moving the ball from the midfield to the attack regions ?
I seem to recollect their problem with that being the need to be happy on corners and setpieces.
Progressing the ball forward was never the issue with their existing midfield and wingbacks.
Yes they were pedestrian as shit for long portions
Now connect the dots…why do you think they developed such a reliance on set pieces? Is it maybe because they became predictable in open play when in possession?
Isn’t that more of a problem with the tactics as such and not the personnel.
I’m not disagreeing with you that Rice is better served as a deeper midfielder.
And there was always a large element of our attacking play which was predictable.
The difference between arsenal and us was that we struck through with our principles to the end and got the benefits.
Arteta took the easy way out and developed a borderline illegal strategy to shithouse some points and wins and lost out on the overall picture.
So maybe adding a more technical possession based player back into the midfield is part of the path to getting back to where they were before they took this diversion you dont like.
Your various arguments here are very difficult to connect with each other. Im not saying you are wrong, Im just saying you dont seem to agree with yourself.