Alan Shearer says he’s actually not yet seen Arsenal star have a bad game for the Gunners

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Alan Shearer has lauded Declan Rice after Arsenal beat Brighton on Sunday, noting that the midfielder never seems to have a bad game for the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta’s men are back at the top of the Premier League table, with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz at either end of the second-half settling the clash with the Seagulls.

Jesus and Havertz may have got the goals, but man of the match may well have been Declan Rice. The 24-year-old was exceptional as Brighton struggled to really lay a glove on the Gunners.

Alan Shearer amazed by Declan Rice after Arsenal win

Of course, it has been apparent for some time that those who thought Rice would struggle to justify Arsenal smashing their club-record to sign him in the summer have been proved wrong. Emphatically wrong.

It is remarkable how quickly Rice has made himself indispensable to Mikel Arteta’s side. And Alan Shearer suggested that he has been amazed by his consistency as he named the England international in his team of the week off the back of their win over Brighton.

“Never has a bad game. He has established himself as Arsenal’s midfield linchpin,” he told the Premier League website.

Final piece in the Gunners jigsaw?

It takes a special kind of player to thrive after becoming a club’s record signing – by some distance – in the immediate aftermath of the side going agonisingly close to winning the title.

But Rice has definitely relished the task. In fairness, he is a player who has stepped up whenever he has needed to throughout his career. And he has taken on plenty of responsibility.

So it should probably not be a surprise that he is playing so well at the Emirates.

And if Arsenal do get across the line and manage to win the title this year, it would not be a shock if many pointed to the signing of Rice as the key moment which took Arteta’s side to that next level.