‘Nowhere near it’: Pundit says 24-year-old Arsenal player doesn’t look fit at all

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Declan Rice made his competitive debut for Arsenal at the weekend and he looked fairly decent in the Community Shield.

To say that Rice didn’t look like a £105m player wouldn’t be too unfair, but it has only been one game, he did look handy in the middle of the park for the Gunners.

Of course, there was room for improvement from Rice, and according to Adrian Clarke, speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, we should see Rice improve in the coming weeks.

Indeed, Clarke believes that Rice still doesn’t look fully fit after a curtailed pre-season campaign, but the pundit has backed Rice to get better and better as he gets into the swing of things.

Rice not looking fit yet

Clarke gave his verdict on the midfielder.

“I think he was right to keep things simple, because he’s still finding his legs, he’s not fully fit, nowhere near it. He hasn’t had enough minutes in pre-season, I think Declan Rice is two-thirds fit at the moment. By the time we get to Forest he might be three-quarters fit and then after Forest and the next game he should be there,” Clarke said.

Shouldn’t take long

Rice isn’t at 100 per cent at the moment, but it shouldn’t take him long to get up to speed.

The midfielder will be working hard in training every single day, and after a couple more outings in the Premier League he should be locked and loaded.

The fact that Rice looked comfortable against Manchester City while not being fully fit is a testament to his ability, and if he can improve in the way Clarke believes he can, he should be a dominant force in the middle of the park for Arsenal this season.

Rice should be playing his best football for Arsenal before too long.