‘The difference’: Pundit says Arsenal have made a signing who’s like Virgil van Dijk

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There have been some truly transformative signings in the Premier League in recent years.

Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool and Erling Haaland at Manchester City both took their respective teams to the next level, and now, Arsenal may have made their own transformative signing.

Indeed, according to Perry Groves, speaking on Hawksbee and Jacobs Daily, Declan Rice has proven to be a Van Dijk-esque signing for Arsenal, and he reckons that the Gunners will win the league because of the midfielder’s impact.

Declan Rice is a Van Dijk-like signing

Groves spoke about the arrival of Rice.

“I’ve said we will win it this season, and there are loads of clips of me saying Arsenal will win it because of Declan Rice and the difference he will make. Only because of when Virgil van Dijk went to Liverpool, he gave them the stature and physicality, and that’s what I think Declan Rice has given us,” Groves said.

Remains to be seen

This is huge praise for a player like Rice, and, in our view, Groves has gone slightly early here.

Yes, Rice has been brilliant for Arsenal, but he’s not exactly been transformative in the same way Van Dijk was for Liverpool – not yet anyway.

When Van Dijk arrived at Anfield, the Reds became arguably the best team in the world overnight. Meanwhile, Arsenal sit third in the league right now, and while they’re playing well, they’re still on course to actually finish lower than they did last season.

Rice has been a brilliant signing yes, and if he does lead Arsenal to a Premier League title he’ll deserve a lot of praise, but to say that he’s been as transformative as Van Dijk at this point is a bit premature.