Ray Parlour shares what Mark Noble told him about Declan Rice and Arsenal when they were down the pub

Add as preferred source on Google

Declan Rice has been an almost revolutionary signing for Arsenal.

The midfielder has been utterly brilliant since signing for the Gunners, and it’s fair to say that £105m move in the summer is starting to look like something of a coup.

There was a bit of surprise when it became clear that Arsenal were going to sign Rice. After all, the Gunners don’t usually spend that sort of money on a player, and players of Rice’s calibre have often opted to join the Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester Uniteds of this world in the past.

Speaking to Hayters TV, Ray Parlour has been discussing the signing of Rice, and he says that before the midfielder had signed for Arsenal, Mark Noble told him that the Gunners probably wouldn’t be able to afford him.

What Mark Noble told Ray Parlour about Declan Rice

Parlour spoke about the midfielder.

“Declan Rice was the big signing wasn’t he and I remember seeing Mark Noble down the pub, and I said ‘Mark, is he coming to Arsenal?; and he said ‘Ray, I don’t think you can afford him.’ He thought we couldn’t afford him but I’m so pleased they could and they got the deal over the line,” Parlour said.

Surprising

Noble was seemingly not expecting Arsenal to cough up that sort of cash for Rice, and, to be honest, so were we.

That £100m barrier is rarely broken in the Premier League, and only the ultra-rich clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City can seemingly go that far.

Arsenal, for years, were financially lagging behind a bit as the owners showed less ambition and were hamstrung by the costs of moving to the Emirates for a number of years.

However, now, it appears Arsenal have been unshackled financially and are able to spend pretty much as freely as the rest of the big clubs.

This wasn’t just a brilliant signing, this was a statement signing. Arsenal are no longer going to lag behind these other teams, they’re here to compete.