Steve Sidwell believes Declan Rice would himself admit that he is not a better defensive midfielder than Rodri.
The pundit claimed that the Manchester City lynchpin is miles better than him on That Peter Crouch Podcast.
Recently, Micah Richards went as far as to claim that since Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets, he has not seen a better number six than the £220,000-a-week (Sport Rac) man.
Steve Sidwell says Declan Rice would admit he is not better than Rodri
In December, the popular pundit and Alan Shearer were arguing about whether Rodri or Declan Rice was better, with the Newcastle United legend siding with the Arsenal anchor.
Considering the pair has been in splendid form for their respective teams this season, the debate seems like it is worth having, according to many.
However, Steve Sidwell thinks Declan Rice would concede that he is not even close to the player Rodri is.
“I love Dec and he would be someone who would be great to get on the pod [podcast], Declan Rice. But he is nowhere near Rodri. In my opinion. I actually think, if you actually said to Dec, he would say, ‘No, I’m not there yet. Not there yet, no.’ Rodri is a Rolls-Royce”, he said on That Peter Crouch Podcast.
“I love Rodri.”
The pundit is spot on about Rodri
Of course, one cannot vouch for whether Declan Rice would simply admit that he is not a superior player to Rodri, as Steve Sidwell said.
However, in our view, as Sidwell emphasised, there is a gulf in class between arguably the two best defensive midfielders in the world.
Every time a debate involving Rodri and Rice kicks off, it seems as if one tends to get the edge over the other.
But there is plenty of evidence to suggest, judging by the former’s time at both Atletico Madrid and Manchester City that it is a stretch to mention Declan Rice has hit the same heights as the treble-winner at the highest level of the game.
However, it would also be disingenuous to deny that Rice is a cracking player and is amongst the best of the best, as has been especially evident at Arsenal.
