Rio Ferdinand is still
lamenting Manchester United’s failure to compete for the signing of Declan Rice
in the summer transfer window.
The Red Devils had been
tracking the England international for the majority of his career and
positioned themselves as one of the front runners to land the now former West
Ham skipper.
Rice appeared to drop a
major hint last year that he was keen on a move by United by hailing Old
Trafford as one of his favourite grounds to play at, but ultimately took the
decision to remain in London and sign for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s decision to
spend a club-record £105million on Rice has been quickly vindicated with his
midfield linchpin delivering a series of outstanding displays at the heart of
Arsenal’s engine room.
The Gunners, who currently
sit top of the table following Tuesday’s dramatic win over Luton, now look set
to challenge for the title again and Ferdinand has been left to contemplate the
transformative effect Rice would’ve had on his old club.
Following United’s 2-1 win
over Chelsea last night, Ferdinand told Vibe with Five: ‘Declan Rice, I said it
before Man Utd he was the player I would’ve 100% gone and got.
You could argue there’s
midfielders with more ability than him but I would argue that it’s only Jude
Bellingham that comes near him in terms of being able to get into a dressing
room and trying to get control of that dressing room and get the respect of
that dressing room on day two, three, four, straight away.
‘Not only with
performances and standards and helping with the culture and the environment but
the attitude and the likeability factor, the respect factor that he would get
straight away.
That’s why I thought he
more than anybody it was important that Man United should’ve gone and got and
they allowed Arsenal to go and get him.’
Last night’s win over
Chelsea, meanwhile, eased the pressure on Erik ten Hag following Saturday’s
defeat at Newcastle and the United boss insisted his side’s display was
evidence enough to suggest there is no crisis.
Ten Hag said: “Crisis? Not
for us. We keep calm, look at the process where we know where we have to build.
We are going in the right direction.
‘We don’t get distracted
(by) criticism around us, but we are very critical on ourselves. We are not
quickly satisfied and happy, we always want to do better. We have to improve a
lot if we want to be successful – but this team is capable of being
successful.’
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