Arsenal's £100m investment in Declan Rice is a 'spectacular success', but it won't be with title win

Financial expert Kieran Maguire believes Arsenal’s £100 million investment in Declan Rice has been a ‘spectacular success’, although some may not view it as that if they win the Premier League.

The Gunners spent a club record transfer fee on Rice back in 2023, paying West Ham United nine figures for the midfielder’s services.

Making 117 appearances for the North London club in just over two years, the 26-year-old has been remarkably durable and performed exceptionally for Mikel Arteta’s team.

Rice has started the new campaign in fine form, and this has coincided with Arsenal storming ahead at the top of the league, six points clear of their closest rivals after just ten matches.

Arsenal’s Declan Rice investment is a ‘spectacular success’

Arsenal fans are regularly heard chanting, ‘Declan Rice, we got him half price’.

Having spent £100 million on the player, this chant clearly speaks volumes about how the Gunners’ faithful believe their talismanic midfielder has performed for them.

Rice is arguably one of the best players on the planet and has helped take the North Londoners from title challengers to title favourites over the last few years.

Interestingly, financial expert Kieran Maguire has explained why some figures within Arsenal would view the signing as less of a success economically if the Gunners do finally get over the line and win the league.

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“Success for Declan Rice from Arsenal’s perspective is for Arsenal to qualify, on a regular basis, for the Champions League,” he said on the Beyond the Back Four Podcast.

“Winning the Premier League is for the fans. Players get bonuses for winning the Premier League. The football club only gets an extra £3.5m; sometimes you might get some bonuses from sponsors, but sometimes not. Club insiders say it’s better to finish second. On that basis, Rice has been a spectacular success.

“Arsenal have gone from missing out on the Champions League regularly, commercial income flatlining because sponsors felt there was too big a price for not enough return and exposure.

“The investment is spread over the lifetime of the contract, a minimum of £40 million in prize money for qualifying for the Champions League, and extra games in a new format, so Arsenal are making £6-7 million from tickets for each home game.

“It was tricky when Arsenal were only making the Europa League and trying to sell hospitality boxes against teams from Cyprus or elsewhere, whereas Champions League games sell themselves.

“Investment is paying off in Rice, and it’s still a relatively low overall investment compared to others like Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool.”

Declan Rice’s role has clearly changed this season

Rice may cost Arsenal more money if they win the league than the club will make from this triumph, but this won’t impact how fans feel about him at all.

His performances have been consistently excellent so far this season, and have arguably gone up a level from the previous campaign.

Arteta has drastically changed Rice’s role, and this is clearly reflected in the stats.

The former West Ham man is touching the ball almost 20 times more per match than he was last season, while where these touches are coming is instructive of how he’s being asked to operate in different zones of the pitch.

Last term, Rice was an out-and-out advanced eight. This often left him receiving the ball in tight areas with his back to goal, which didn’t suit him.

This season, he’s being asked to drop deeper to facilitate build-up, as he’s averaging five more touches in the defensive third and almost 17 more touches in the middle third of the pitch per 90 minutes. This has worked wonders.

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