He's like Rice: Arsenal offered "unbelievable" £47m midfielder during talks

[ad_1] Upon the conclusion of the summer time switch window, you’d be forgiven for pondering the January market is perhaps a quieter affair for Arsenal.

Andrea Berta and Mikel Arteta collaborated to spend huge sums of cash to arrange for the 2025/26 marketing campaign and boy did they should.

Whereas the jury remains to be out on the strains of Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, the depth they added in defence has greater than been required.

So much has been made concerning the Gunners’ elevated squad depth and given accidents to just about each participant within the backline in some unspecified time in the future this time period, they’ve wanted these additional our bodies.

Nicely, heading into the winter window, much more depth could also be required.

Arsenal chasing former Premier League midfielder There wasn’t a place left untouched over the summer time as Arsenal ready for his or her assault on the title.

Nevertheless, the place arguably missing essentially the most depth proper now's in midfield.

Declan Rice missed Arsenal’s conflict with Aston Villa on Tuesday evening on account of harm and there's a sense they want somebody to assist him out.

Rice is irreplaceable however an additional physique to scale back his workload wouldn't go amiss. The identical will be stated of fellow midfielder Martin Zubimendi who has performed just about each minute since arriving from Actual Sociedad in the summertime.

One choice, in accordance with Caught Offside, is former Wolverhampton Wanderers star Ruben Neves.

The Portuguese maestro left Molineux behind for the riches of Saudi Arabia again in 2023 however is now stated to be eager on a return to European soccer.

The report claims that Neves has truly been supplied to a number of prime golf equipment, together with Arsenal, throughout talks. That stated, no concrete response has been issued by the switch chiefs on the Emirates Stadium.

<img width="1650" height="826" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="ruben-neves-portugal" data-img-url="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/mixcollage-17-dec-2025-12-49-pm-2124.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/mixcollage-17-dec-2025-12-49-pm-2124.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/> Different studies point out he might be accessible for as little as £15m together with his contract expiring in the summertime. That is an enormous low cost on the £47m Al-Hilal paid for him.

How Ruben Neves compares to Declan Rice If Arteta and Co have been to conclude a deal for Neves in January then he would signify the proper foil to each Rice and Zubimendi.

In lots of senses, the previous Wolves man is minimize from the same material as a sure Cesc Fabregas.

<img width="1650" height="826" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="ruben-neves-wolves-championship" data-img-url="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ruben-neves-wolves-championship.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ruben-neves-wolves-championship.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/> Able to taking part in as a deep-lying playmaker, his passing vary and skill to dictate the tempo are first-class. That stated, he’s additionally obtained the power to maraud ahead and affect play within the ultimate third.

Not simply an distinctive passer, he’s devastating together with his taking pictures from vary. Certainly, of the 13 non-penalty objectives he scored for Wolves within the Premier League, as many as 9 of them got here from outdoors of the field. That is clearly an space Arsenal want to enhance in.

You sense solely the aforementioned Rice has the same means in Arteta’s squad. Bear in mind these two free-kicks towards Actual Madrid? In fact you do, they’re tough to overlook.

Each have cultivated a popularity as being dead-ball specialists. Whereas Rice has but to attain from a dead-ball scenario since these magical efforts towards Madrid, he's now probably the greatest nook takers in Europe.

<img width="1650" height="1376" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="Ruben Neves goal involvements per season (timeless)" data-img-url="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ruben-neves-goal-involvements-per-season.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ruben-neves-goal-involvements-per-season.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/> Likewise, Neves is fairly rattling good over a set-piece. The 28-year-old has scored seven direct free-kicks in his profession, three of which have been scored within the Premier League and the newest of which got here in a Saudi Professional League sport in November.

Whereas Rice has undoubtedly turn out to be extra well-rounded since Neves performed in England’s top-flight, information from the 2022/23 marketing campaign suggests they're much more related than simply their set-piece prowess.

Neves vs Rice in 2022/23

Stat (per 90 minutes)

Neves

Rice

Objectives

018

0.11

Assists

0.03

Passes accomplished

51.6

50.7

Key passes

0.96

1.02

Passes into ultimate third

6.03

6.40

Progressive passes

6.51

6.59

Shot-creating actions

2.39

2.75

Tackles gained

1.28

1.04

Interceptions

1.49

1.73

Stats through FBRef.

In accordance with FBref, the second most related participant within the Premier League that marketing campaign to Neves was certainly Rice.

The numbers assist showcase why. At that time, they registered the same variety of objectives and assists per 90 minutes. Maybe essentially the most intriguing similarity is their passing.

Throughout that time period, the amount of key passes and progressive passes they made was almost an identical. Their shot-creating actions and defensive actions have been very related too. There's a cause he is been described as an "unbelievable technician" by analyst Raj Chohan.

<img width="1650" height="826" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="neves-premier-league-wolves-al-hilal-nuno-santo-transfer" data-img-url="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/neves-premier-league-wolves-al-hilal-nuno-santo-transfer.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.footballfancastimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/neves-premier-league-wolves-al-hilal-nuno-santo-transfer.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/> In fact, Rice has turn out to be extra of a rampaging presence in midfield now however Neves definitely shares plenty of related traits to Arsenal’s document signing. Consider him as a hybrid of Zubimendi and the membership’s no.41.