Mikel Arteta has admitted that he is happy that Declan Rice has been compared to Yaya Toure.
Recently, Arsenal legend and French U-21 manager Thierry Henry likened the Englishman to the retired midfielder on Sky Sports.
In November 2022, Declan Rice told GOAL that the Manchester City legend is one of his “idols” and a player he bases his game on “massively.”
Mikel Arteta admits he is happy Declan Rice has been compared to Yaya Toure
Earlier this year, Jack Grealish admitted that the three-time Premier League winner is one of the most difficult opponents of his career up until now.
Troy Deeney also recently admitted that he still remains proud of the fact that he swapped shirts with the former Barcelona maestro.
Ahead of Arsenal’s upcoming clash against Brentford, Mikel Arteta was quizzed about his thoughts on Declan Rice being likened to Yaya Toure by Thierry Henry.
“A very good player to get compared to because Yaya [Toure] was an incredible player. What he did in this league was outstanding, and Declan wants more so that’s a good sign”, he said [via Arsenal’s official website].
The Arsenal midfielder has a long way to go to even resemble Yaya Toure when he plays
Unsurprisingly, Mikel Arteta would be delighted to see Declan Rice compared to a legend of the game like Yaya Toure.
Especially by Thierry Henry, who had the chance to train, play and share a dressing room with him at Barcelona.
However, in our view, Declan Rice has a long way to go to even resemble Yaya Toure when he plays, let alone become a player of his calibre.
Apart from perhaps defensively, there is not a single aspect that Rice has mastered to the same extent at Arsenal as Toure; passing, playing in tight spaces, scoring goals, free-kicks, assists, dribbling and controlling games.
It is completely fair if the former West Ham United anchor wishes to emulate the Ivorian.
But to compare the two in any way, shape or form is way off the mark as the Europa Conference League winner does not even remotely possess as much of a complete profile as Yaya Toure did.
