‘Watch him’… Pundit has noticed 25-year-old Arsenal midfielder is basically playing as a striker now

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Declan Rice has all of a sudden become a real attacking threat for Arsenal.

The midfielder has five goal contributions in his last four games, and it’s clear to see that something has clearly changed in the way the England international has been operating.

Speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, Adrian Clarke has been discussing Rice’s positioning in recent games, and he’s noticed that the midfielder has almost been operating as a striker at times as of late.

Indeed, Clarke says that Rice is often charging around the frontline at the moment, claiming that he’s playing in a much more advanced role lately.

Declan Rice is almost playing as a striker

Clarke spoke about the midfielder’s recent performances.

“Declan Rice, his performance was interesting. He was charging around as a striker. He’s doing this more and more. He did it for the Saka goal against Newcastle where Havertz nicks it. For the first goal he basically stood up front and for his goal, just watch him, he’s basically standing up front, then he shows for the ball like a striker and finishes like a striker would.,” Clarke said.

It’s working

Rice playing as an auxiliary striker isn’t something we expected to see at Arsenal, but, to be fair, it’s working a charm.

Indeed, Rice has been utterly brilliant in recent weeks for the Gunners, and his attacking returns just go to show how useful he can be in this position.

It’s incredible to think that Rice started his career as a centre-back, and now, he’s becoming more and more attacking as time goes on.

The implementation of Jorginho in that holding midfield role has really helped Rice unlock a new side to his game, and, as recent results for Arsenal have shown, the England international is thriving in this new role.

Who knows? Perhaps Rice has a future as more of a forward player.