Whether it’s propping up to score a last-gasp winner away at Luton or dominating the midfield, as he has done in pretty much every game this season, it is clear to see just how important the 24-year-old is to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
When he was forced off against fierce rivals Tottenham earlier this season the Gunners looked like a completely different side. He is the glue of the team and is quickly becoming one of their most influential players both on and off the pitch.
It is therefore a no-brainer in Carragher’s eyes for Rice to take the armband from Odegaard, who was made Arsenal’s skipper at the start of last season after the departure of Alexander Lacazette to Lyon. “As was always the case with Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, it feels inevitable that Rice will one day captain Arsenal. With Gerrard, all the players in the Liverpool squad knew that his time would come,” wrote Carragher in his Daily Telegraph column.
“I expect it is the same at Arsenal, and probably with England — although he may be in a battle with Bellingham to one day replace Kane as captain. For Arsenal, the move for Rice was a no-brainer.
“I believe we will be talking about him as an Arsenal great in seven or eight years, and that his £105 million fee will look like a snip. Ultimately, he could be for Arsenal what Virgil van Dijk has been for Liverpool.
“Van Dijk cost £75 million but, after everything he has achieved at Anfield, that fee is rightly regarded as a bargain.
City were interested, of course, and there would have been no chance for Arsenal this season if Rice had gone to the Etihad instead of the Emirates.
“With him in their team, Arsenal have a player who will become a club legend — and a man who could bring the Premier League title back to north London.”
