Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he was snubbed by one of Mikel Arteta’s key men at Arsenal.
The Gunners head to the Etihad on Sunday to take on the defending champions. It is a massive clash for both sides, one that could decide who will win the Premier League title this season.
Arteta has got the better of Guardiola already this term. Arsenal beat City in the Community Shield back in August and then picked up another win at the Emirates in October.
The Gunners would love nothing more than to beat City again, and one player will be key for them. Guardiola knows all about him.
Pep Guardiola led his side to a historic treble last season, and he has a chance to repeat that feat again in the coming months.
Despite the success, Manchester City were really keen to strengthen their side last summer. They had some big targets on their wish list.
One of them was Declan Rice, and Guardiola really wanted to sign the Englishman.
However, Arsenal were always ahead of the champions, and Mikel Arteta convinced the midfielder to snub the City boss and move to the Emirates.
Ahead of the big game at the Etihad on Sunday, Guardiola was asked about missing out on Rice. The Spaniard admitted that the Arsenal man didn’t want to join him at City.
He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “Since I am here, many, many players we wanted didn’t decide to join us. He (Rice) is not the first one. I have a long list.
“Basically because they didn’t want to come in the end or the price or whatever, it could not happen. He took a decision, a good one, so good luck!
“I think all the teams in the Premier League would have [wanted to] sign Declan Rice. He’s an international captain for the national team in England, young player, played a lot of games regularly.
“That’s why Arsenal pushed in the way they pushed.”
Assessing Declan Rice’s stats vs Manchester City at the Emirates
Declan Rice has been one of the signings of the season, and Arsenal have gone up a level thanks to him.
The Englishman has been unbelievable this season. He is right up there with Rodri as the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League, but Rice actually played in a more advanced role against City in the reverse fixture at the Emirates.
The 25-year-old, who started next to Jorginho in the middle of the park, had 58 touches of the ball and completed 36 of his 40 attempted passes, maintaining an impressive 90 per cent passing accuracy. Rice registered two key passes as well, thus justifying Mikel Arteta’s decision to play him in a box-to-box role.
Defensively, Rice was amazing. He made two clearances, three interceptions, three tackles and blocked a shot. He was dribbled past just once in the entire game as well, which is very impressive. (SofaScore)
If Rice can produce a similar or better performance for Arsenal on Sunday as he did back in October, the Gunners will have a great chance of getting a result.