‘I can never understand’: BBC pundit has no idea why ‘fast’ player has signed for Arsenal

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Declan Rice to Arsenal has been the biggest transfer of the summer so far.

A £105m deal to bring Rice to the Emirates has broken the British transfer record, and the Gunners have finally gotten their man.

However, at one point it looked as though Rice may end up elsewhere.

Indeed, Manchester City came in with a bid for the midfielder late in the day, but, in the end, Rice decided to join Arsenal.

Speaking on the BBC Radio Five Live Football Daily Podcast, Stephen Kelly has been discussing this transfer and he thinks it is a phenomenal bit of business.

However, Kelly did note that he was perplexed by Rice’s decision to join Arsenal over City, claiming that at this stage of his career, he could achieve so much more at City.

Baffled

Kelly gave his verdict on the ‘fast’ player.

“It’s phenomenal and you have to give Arsenal credit for at one point it looked like City were in the race and they still managed to say the right things to him to make him choose them if that’s what actually happened, even though I can never understand why a player at this stage of their career would choose Arsenal over City based on what you can achieve,” Kelly said.

Project

On paper it’s easy to see why you would join Manchester City rather than Arsenal. After all, they are the treble-winning champions of Europe, but at the same time, Arsenal’s long-term prospects look to be incredible too.

A young core of Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice will be incredible for years to come, and Rice may well believe it’s just a matter of time before the Gunners overtake City.

Arsenal could well be the next powerhouse in English football.