Gary Neville, Manchester United legend, has identified Declan Rice as the only concern for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
According to Neville, Rice is irreplaceable due to his unique skill set, which includes his powerful set-pieces, running, tackling, and impact on the game.
Arsenal has been impressive this season, with a 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby, opening a six-point gap in the Premier League table.
Despite injuries to key players like Gabriel Magalhães, Martin Ødegaard, Victor Gyökeres, and Kai Havertz, Arsenal has shown resilience.
Neville noted that Arsenal has strong options in defense, particularly at full-back and centre-back, with players like Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Ben White.
However, Rice’s absence would be deeply felt.
“The interesting thing is they’ve got [Riccardo] Calafiori and [Jurrien] Timber at full-back.
“Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White are probably better going forward, although there’s not much between White and Timber,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“They’ve got real options at full-back, real options at centre-back.
“The only player you’d be worried about losing for a period of time would be Declan Rice because you can’t replace that.
“That’s your Roy Keane, that’s your Rodri, the player that holds you together. There’s only one of them.
“You’d never be able to replace his ability to be powerful on set-pieces, his running, his tackling, his impact on the game going forward.”