What Gary Neville said about Declan Rice before Arsenal signed him looks utterly ridiculous now
Gary Neville has made several interesting comments about Arsenal over the years, and one of them was about Declan Rice.
The England international was still at West Ham United in 2023, but several reports had revealed that Mikel Arteta was interested in signing him.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City was also in the race to recruit Rice, as was Bayern Munich, then led by Thomas Tuchel.
Arsenal broke their transfer record to finally sign Rice, but if it had been up to Neville it wouldn’t have happened.
Gary Neville claimed he won’t pay more than £60m for Declan Rice in 2023
Declan Rice is Arsenal’s most expensive signing of all time.
Nicolas Pepe held this record for a few years after being signed from Lille for £72 million in the summer of 2019.
In 2023, Arsenal broke that by agreeing a £105m deal to sign Rice.
Just months before this happened, Gary Neville had his say on all the rumors, and the Gooners will all be glad Arteta didn’t listen to him.
The Manchester United legend was full of praise for Rice, but he felt the midfielder was worth no more than £60 million.
He told Sky Sports in March 2023: “I think personally, at the moment, Declan needs to go and work in a different set-up, he needs to move forward in his career, he needs to go and play for another club.
“I think there is a lot of growth and a lot of things for Declan to do to get up to the level of Casemiro, Rodri and the players at the top of the game in those positions.
“But, for me, I wouldn’t spend £110 million or £120 million… I would spend between £50 million and £60 million on Declan Rice, but I wouldn’t spend the published figures.”
Arsenal fans have already made it clear what they think of Declan Rice’s price tag
Neville’s comments about Rice’s 2023 price tag seem ridiculous now.
Rice has become one of the best midfielders in the world and he has hardly had a bad game for Arsenal since joining the club.
The biggest compliment that can be paid to the English midfielder is that no one on the planet has complained about his price tag.
Arsenal fans actually did the opposite. They have a song about Rice that says “we got it at half price.”
It’s difficult to describe a £100million-plus signing as a bargain, but if any player deserves that title, it’s Rice.