Graeme Souness has gone straight at Declan Rice, calling him a “cheat” and “an old man’s way of playing midfield” while Arsenal are moving to open contract renewal talks. The criticism is about where Rice plays and how often he sits so deep. Arsenal’s response is the more practical one, with the club trying to protect one of Mikel Arteta’s key players.

Souness's criticism of Rice

Souness said Rice was “too deep to affect the game” and described him as “not a midfield player” in the wider debate. He also added, “He’s the best defensive midfielder in the country right now, he smells danger. But then again, he’s back there all the time.” That mix of praise and disdain is the point here. Souness clearly rates the defensive side of Rice's game, but he thinks the England midfielder is being used in a way that takes him away from the middle of the pitch.

Rice’s latest league outing is a reminder that the role debate does not stop him affecting matches. He had a goal and an assist in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Chelsea on 2026-09-06, and his Premier League rating stands at 7.5.

Arsenal's contract move

Arsenal are set to open renewal talks with Rice, Martin Ødegaard and Jurriën Timber. All three deals run to summer 2028, which gives the club some time but not much reason to leave it sitting around.

The interesting part is that Arsenal are not treating this as a Rice-only file. Ødegaard and Timber are in the same batch, and the reported order of work puts Timber's talks as the most advanced of the three. Rice joined from West Ham in 2023, and Arsenal look keen to keep the core together rather than let a public debate about his position become part of the contract noise.

Rice is still producing enough on the pitch to make that stance easy to understand. The club has won 2 of its last 2 Premier League matches shown in the feed, and Rice's own output has not dipped to match the criticism. His 7.5 rating and that Chelsea performance are the sort of return Arsenal want to lock in before the negotiations gather pace.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →