Arsenal legend Tony Adams believes Declan Rice is “better than Mikel Arteta because he’s a winner” and that the Gunners boss must make him captain if they want to win the Premier League this season.
Arsenal have endured three consecutive second-place finishes under the Spaniard, who has become haunted by title near-misses in the top-flight.
But as Arteta finally looks to go one better and bring home major silverware after five years in the dugout, four-time league champion Adams insists that his captain must reflect this relentless winning mentality - something current skipper Martin Odegaard does not.
“He’s got a really big call to make this year and for me he hasn’t done it and the call is to make Declan Rice the captain,” Adams said in the Irish Independent’s Premier League preview.
“Declan is my kind of captain and what it might do is free up Martin Odegaard to play with more freedom. Every now and again as a manager, you have to put someone that reflects you and the football club that you think can actually take you to the next level.”
When asked if Rice currently reflects Arteta, Adams replied: “I think Rice is better than Arteta - I think he’s a winner. I think he’s an Arsenal leader in the dressing room, around the training camp. He’s got standards, he’s got principles.
“I think big managers go actually, you’re my man now. He’s got an opportunity to actually turn into a winner. Five years now, he got great success at the start with a very defensive team - we got every player behind the ball and nicked the FA Cup. So to go on and win league titles, you have to be a Klopp, you have to be a Ferguson, you have to lead by example, you have to be a winner and that reflects in your captain.
“I’m seeing Declan Rice as the captain but I’m saying to Arteta ‘come on, step up now, it’s your time to be a winning manager’ because you’re not going to win the league with Odegaard as captain.
“You’ve got someone in there that is going to play every game and lay the foundations of a title-winning team. Declan Rice can do that, Odegaard can’t. Come on Arteta, make him captain.”
Arteta responded for calls to axe Odegaard by revealing that the players had taken a vote on who should be captain, from which the Norwegian emerged as the people’s favourite “by a mile”.
"My opinion is clear, and it is the same as all the staff and the players,” Arteta said in his Friday press conference. “I asked them to vote [for] the captain yesterday and by a mile, by a mile, they all choose the same person, Martin Odegaard, which is the most clear sign you can have of how the squad feel we can improve."
Arsenal begin their new campaign at Old Trafford on Sunday as they clash with Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United.
