Arsenal legend, Paul Merson has identified midfielder, Declan Rice as the player who has taken the Gunners to ‘another level’ this season.

Arsenal signed the England international in a £105m deal from West Ham United last summer.

Rice has impressed since his switch to the Premier League North London club.

He has been in fine form in recent weeks, scoring two goals and providing four assists across his last four Premier League matches.

However, Merson believes Rice is at the same level with Manchester City’s Rodri.

“Arsenal will go top on Saturday if they get the job done against Brentford, who have a lot of good players out, so they have got to put the pressure on the others,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“They are so different to last season because Declan Rice has taken them to another level.

“He’s up there with Rodri and that is why Man City and Arsenal have great defences. They are so disciplined it’s unbelievable.”

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.