24-year-old Arsenal player played in the Community Shield despite having an injury – journalist

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Arsenal star Declan Rice was apparently carrying an injury when he started in midfield against Manchester City in the Community Shield.

The Gunners ended their terrible run against Pep Guardiola’s side with a win on Sunday. They came from behind late in the game and outperformed them in the penalty shootout.

All eyes were on new-boy Rice and he had a decent outing. Chris Wheatley has explained on his YouTube show the reason why he wasn’t at his absolute best.

Arsenal star Declan Rice has been playing with an injury

Arsenal star Declan Rice is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

The Englishman has been absolutely incredible for West Ham over the years, and his quality and potential convinced Arsenal to smash their transfer record to sign him.

Rice, however, is yet to play the full 90 minutes for Arsenal. He missed the game against Barcelona in the USA due to a slight niggle, and it looks like he’s yet to overcome that – despite starting against both Monaco and Manchester City.

Wheatley has revealed that Rice has been playing with an injury over the last few weeks.

He said: “It’s our understanding that Declan Rice is playing with a slight injury and I thought he was pretty good against City.

“Imagine now he’s probably playing at about 80 per cent of his level. If he’s playing at 100 per cent of his level, I think he’s going to be one of the best number 6s in the Premier League.”

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You can tell by watching Rice that he’s not at his 100 per cent.

The injury he has explains why and the fact that he’s now playing in a brand new system with new players around him makes it a little more tricky as well.

However, despite the problems, Rice had good outings against both Monaco and Manchester City. He wasn’t bad at all in either fixture. That is really exciting for Arsenal fans, as he’ll only get better in the coming weeks once he returns to full fitness.

Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest at home to kick off the new Premier League season on Saturday, and Rice is expected to start the game.