Arsenal 24-year-old now ranked as a better player than Lionel Messi and Son Heung-min this season

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Arsenal star Declan Rice has been ranked as the 13th-best player in the world this season ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, William Saliba and Son Heung-min.

The 24-year-old England international is up there with the best midfielders in the world. He has been incredible since joining the Gunners, and his performances have earned big praise already.

Arsenal’s Declan Rice ranked as a better player than Lionel Messi and Son Heung-min

Arsenal signed Declan Rice from West Ham United in the summer for a club-record fee.

The Englishman’s price tag did raise a few eyebrows at the time, but after watching how good he has been, nobody’s talking about how much money Arsenal spent.

Rice has been magnificent. He’s yet to have a bad game for the Gunners and has already played huge parts in their wins over Manchester United and Manchester City.

90min released their 20 best footballers in the world in 2023/24 list, and Rice has been ranked 13th, ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, William Saliba and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, who’ve been placed 15th, 16th and 17th respectively.

Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, Manchester City star Rodri and Spurs’ James Maddison are the only midfielders ranked higher than Rice.

Rice is one of the best

Declan Rice is one of the best in the world in his position, there’s no debate there.

Rodri is probably the only defensive midfielder above his level, that’s not a bad thing at all as the Manchester City man is undoubtedly the best number six in the world.

The advantage Rice has is that he is still only 24. He will get better and better in the coming years, and it won’t surprise us at all if he leads Arsenal to numerous trophies during that time.

Rice was given a well-deserved break last night by England boss Gareth Southgate, but we expect him to start against Italy next week.