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Rio Ferdinand believes Declan Rice would have rejected Arsenal if Manchester United had offered the same salary.

Rice delivered another impressive performance at the heart of Arsenal’s midfield to help eliminate Real Madrid from the Champions League this week.

The 26-year-old has established himself as one of Arsenal’s key figures under Mikel Arteta, with Ferdinand claiming that the England international should now be considered among the world’s best midfielders.

Rice joined Arsenal in a £105 million deal from West Ham in 2023 but had also attracted strong interest from both United and Chelsea.

And Ferdinand feels that Rice would have opted to join United two years ago if his former club matched Arsenal’s offer.

Speaking about Rice’s performance against Madrid, Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: ‘The first tie killed it but they [Arsenal] were magnificent, I thought, over two legs.

‘Declan Rice, I think, you know when you look at players and go where was the moment he stood up and said, ‘guys, the top table, I’m at it’. I think this tie says that.

‘Doing against a team of that magnitude, that type of team, that champion.

‘And we [Manchester United] didn’t go and sign him.

‘I think, and I will stand by this, if Man United had come to the table with a chequebook and said, ‘we’ll match what Arsenal pay’, I think Declan Rice would have chose Man United.’

Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League match against Ipswich Town on Sunday, Arteta believes Rice is now in a ‘different dimension’ following his two performances against Madrid.

‘He’s learning more and more,’ Arteta said.

‘I think performances like he had in this side against Real Madrid actually just puts the player in a different dimension and that’s why we brought him here. That’s why we demand him as well to take more steps and to be more decisive in games because he can do it.

‘We’ve been talking about it for the last few weeks and to be at this stage is not easy. He’s done it two times in a row.

‘Now he’s maintaining that level of consistency, belief and undoubtedly his role will be bigger and bigger.’

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Declan Rice made Graeme Souness eat his words with two sensational performances in Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final victory over Real Madrid.

Rice produced two Player of the Match displays to help Arsenal stun European champions Real Madrid and advance to the semi-final stage.

It was two brilliant Rice free-kicks in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium that set Arsenal on their way but the England midfielder was just as influential at the Bernabeu.

Rio Ferdinand and Ally McCoist both praised Rice for ‘running the show’ against Madrid just a few days after Souness questioned his status as a ‘world-class’ player.

Writing in a Daily Mail column in-between the quarter-final legs, Souness said: ‘There is nothing to dislike about Declan Rice but we need to apply some perspective before declaring him world class for scoring two free-kicks against Real Madrid.

‘He comes across as a great guy, I like to hear him speak and he talks with great honesty. I’m sure he is a dream to have in the dressing room but I’m sorry, two wonderful free-kicks do not make you a great player.

‘We get over excited easily in this country, particularly in the media, we are all guilty of it. Even if you win the FA Youth Cup you are considered a “club legend”. 

‘We are too quick to apply ‘”legend” or “worldie” status on the back of emotional events. We need to calm down and not get ahead of ourselves. 

‘We talked about a genuine world class player in Kevin de Bruyne last week. Declan is not there yet.’

Souness said Rice needed to offer more in the final third to take his game to the next level.

He added: ‘The challenge now is for him to go on and be better in that area.

‘Obviously, he has worked hard at his game and is improving. At 26 I don’t ever see that work ethic changing in him either.

‘He certainly is a wonderful dead-ball kicker and that is why, despite being 6ft 2ins tall, he is being sacrificed for set-pieces because otherwise with that physique he’d be a wonderful aerial threat in the box.’

Rice in ‘another bracket’ after Madrid displays

Ex-Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand said Rice had entered ‘another bracket’ following his superb performances in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

‘You need games like this in your career. You need to get to places like this to be properly judged,’ Ferdinand said.

‘He’s stood up against the holders of this trophy and he’s not just competed, he’s run the show, he’s run the show in both games.

‘He’s put himself in another bracket, I think after these two games he’s in another bracket.’

Fellow TNT Sports pundit McCoist added: ‘Over the two games, he’s been the outstanding player on the pitch.

‘He was monumental. He was the best player on the pitch in both games. His level of performance was quite magnificent.’

Arsenal legend Wright hails Rice

Meanwhile, Arsenal hero Ian Wright was also full of praise for Rice after Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League.

‘Nobody can ever question him,’ legendary ex-Arsenal striker Wright said on the Wrighty’s House podcast.

‘You see all these podcasters being disrespectful, but Declan Rice, over two games, absolutely wiped the floor with that team with his performance.

‘It was a performance where you’re looking at a player and you’re thinking: yeah, we know he’s good and he’s getting better. We saw the two goals last week that we haven’t seen before.

‘We’ve seen on a weekly basis that he’s just improving and getting better in any position that he’s asked to play in, whether that’s crashing the box, whether it’s six, whether it’s eight.

‘He was everywhere! He was everywhere! As we sit here right now, he is in the top three midfielders in the world.’

Rice will make his 100th appearance for Arsenal before the end of the season, having joined the club in a £105m move from West Ham in 2023.

Next up for Rice and Arsenal in the Champions League is a semi-final clash with French champions PSG, who have already knocked out Aston Villa and Liverpool.

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‘Nobody can ever question him.’

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Thibaut Courtois has criticised Real Madrid’s tactics following their Champions League defeat to Arsenal and claims the team missed the presence of Joselu in attack.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side are now out of the Champions League after Arsenal sealed a 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

Arsenal held a 3-0 advantage from the first leg of their quarter-final tie last week, however, Madrid’s players appeared confident of mounting a comeback in front of their own supporters.

But the Champions League holders struggled to trouble Mikel Arteta’s side and fell behind in the second half through Bukayo Saka’s neat finish.

Vinicius Junior pounced on a mistake from William Saliba to equalise but Madrid were unable to cause Arsenal further problems and the Gunners, who will now play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final, sealed the win in injury time through Gabriel Martinelli.

Speaking after Madrid’s Champions League exit, Courtois claimed his team are too reliant on ‘individual’ moments in attack and said Joselu, who scored 18 goals for Madrid last season before his €17 million (£14.4m) move to Qatari side Al-Gharafa last summer, would have offered a stronger presence in attack against Arsenal.

‘We can’t always expect the four up front to dribble past three players and score a great goal. As a team, we have to attack and defend better,’ Courtois said.

‘In the end, they’re a team that defends well, is well-organised, presses well, and it’s difficult to find space. We put in a lot of crosses, but this year we don’t have Joselu, a natural striker up front.

‘We have to analyse carefully what we can do better. We have a lot of season ahead of us, we have the League on the line, the Cup in ten days, and then the Club World Cup. We thank the fans. Thinking about a comeback was great, and I hope we can bring them some joy this season.

‘Sometimes you have to be self-critical and look at everything carefully. Everyone has to do this. I feel like we’re a team, but we have to make more team plays and not just individual ones.

‘If they double-mark Vini or Kylian, a two-on-one can work once, but not five times.

‘We still have a good final against Barca, La Liga, and the Club World Cup.’

Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s captain, Lucas Vazquez, accused Arsenal of ‘coming to defend’ at the Bernabeu.

‘It’s a difficult moment. We tried, but it was a tough game. We didn’t have all the chances we would have liked,’ Vazquez told Movistar.

‘We didn’t lose face in the game, but there were a lot of interruptions. Those moments when the balance sometimes falls in our favour didn’t happen, and in the end, we weren’t able to do what we wanted

‘Perhaps yes, we lacked clarity with the ball, patience at certain moments, and the ability to move the ball from side to side to penetrate a well-organised defence.

‘They came to defend, to play their part. They did practically nothing in the first half, and in the second, with the team completely focused, they found victory. We tried

‘There’s still a lot of season left to play. The team is united, it’s doing well, and it’s eager to achieve what’s left, and we’re going to work hard to achieve everything.’

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Dani Carvajal is facing a possible suspension from UEFA over his clash with Bukayo Saka during Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Mikel Arteta’s side secured their place in the Champions League semi-final where they will play Paris Saint-Germain following their victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Arsenal held a commanding 3-0 lead from the first leg last week but missed the chance to extend that advantage in the first half as Saka’s penalty was saved by Thibaut Courtois.

However, Saka made amends in the 65th minute as he beat Courtois with a neat dinked finish after being put through on goal by Mikel Merino.

Two minutes later, Vinicius Junior capitalised on a mistake from William Saliba to pull Madrid level but Gabriel Martinelli sealed Arsenal’s victory in injury time to silence the Bernabeu.

Saka, meanwhile, was at the centre of a bust-up with Carvajal as the players headed down the tunnel for the half-time break.

Carvajal, who missed the game after undergoing knee surgery in October, made a beeline Saka and grabbed the Arsenal winger around the neck while he spoke to him.

But as Saka went to walk away, Carvajal held the 23-year-old by the arm and refused to let go before a member of Arsenal’s backroom staff stepped in to intervene.

In the closing stages of the game, Carvajal was seen watching the match from one of the corporate boxes at the Bernabeu.

According to Marca, Carvajal confronted Saka because he was unhappy with the Arsenal winger’s ‘disrespectful’ decision to take a Panenka penalty against Madrid at the Bernabeu.

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