‘Massive’… Kyle Walker now makes interesting claim about Declan Rice and Arsenal 

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Kyle Walker believes Declan Rice’s switch to Arsenal last summer has been ‘massive’ for the current England side.

Declan Rice has undoubtedly been one of the signings of the season after hitting the ground running at Arsenal.

The 25-year-old completed a £105 million switch to the Emirates Stadium off the back of captaining West Ham to a Europa Conference League title. 

Many wondered how Rice would adapt to a possession-based style of football under Mikel Arteta after playing in a more pragmatic system at the London Stadium.

It’s fair to say that the Englishman has adapted to the change with ease, which is to be expected of a player who had shone at West Ham.

But Manchester City’s Kyle Walker has suggested that Rice’s switch to north London has benefitted the England team.

Walker makes claim about Rice and Arsenal

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE, Walker discussed why he believes Phil Foden’s best position is playing through the middle. 

The City skipper then went on to explain why Rice’s move to Arsenal has been huge for the current England side.

“I think Declan being at Arsenal now is massive, not saying he’s not a very good player at West Ham, but knowing how to [play] possession-based football,” he said.

“I think we got to certain phases, especially Russia [World Cup 2018] when Trips scores and then the Euros when Luke Shaw scores. We scored too early and didn’t control the game.

“Now I feel, especially in the last two fixtures, we scored and we were winning and we played in their half still. Whereas before it was kind of like we scored in Russia against Croatia and then they just ran over us with experience. And with Italy as well it was like just hang on.”

Rice impressed for England vs Brazil

Despite being on the wrong end of a 1-0 defeat on Saturday, Rice earned praise after making his 48th appearance for England.

Gareth Southgate lauded the Arsenal star’s display as ‘outstanding’ and suggested he has gone up another level recently.

There’s no doubt that Rice was already a world-class midfielder before completing his switch to Arsenal and his displays for England proved that.

But with the Three Lions looking to dominate games more often, you can see why Rice’s move to Arsenal should benefit Southgate’s side.

The midfielder will be more familiar with playing in a side which dominates the ball almost every single week.