Mikel Arteta says Declan Rice and £30m Arsenal man can play in the same team

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that using Declan Rice and Thomas Partey together in midfield is in his plans for the upcoming season.

The Gunners made a huge statement by breaking their transfer record to sign Rice last week. The Englishman became the most-expensive British player in history, and Gooners love him already.

Following Rice’s arrival, rumours about Partey’s future have been rife because they play in the same position. In his press conference yesterday, Arteta rubbished the theory that they can’t start together in midfield.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says Declan Rice and Thomas Partey can play in the same team

Thomas Partey was one of Arsenal‘s best players for most of last season.

Right up until April, the Ghana international was up there with the best defensive midfielders in Europe, but his form fell off a cliff late in the campaign, and he got dropped.

Numerous rumours have claimed that Arsenal are ready to sell Partey this summer. The Sun even quoted £30 million as the minimum fee he would cost in this window.

Many felt Declan Rice‘s presence is the reason for the above, but Mikel Arteta completely dismissed those thoughts.

After adamantly claiming Partey is not for sale, the Arsenal boss was asked if it is possible for both Rice and the Ghanaian to play in the same team in his system.

Arteta replied, as quoted by Arsenal.com: “Yeah, they can play together and that was in my plans.

“If you want to improve the squad and have more quality, we need players that can play together, but we need players in the same position that have to fight for their places. It’s something that we haven’t had over the last few years and we wanted to improve that, and that’s why we brought Declan as well.”

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Arsenal take on Manchester United in a friendly tonight, and it will be interesting to see what lineup Arteta will go with.

The back five is a very predictable one. Aaron Ramsdale will start in goal with a defensive line of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jakub Kiwior. The latter is because Oleksandr Zinchenko is still injured.

The big question mark is what midfield Arteta will name. Thomas Partey didn’t play the game in Washington DC earlier this week, while Rice and Martin Odegaard only came on as substitutes.

Will that be the trio to start tonight? It could well be.