Arsenal told to ‘make Declan Rice statement’ in response to Neville

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Arsenal have been told to “make a statement” signing in response to Gary Neville’s theory that Mikel Arteta could walk away from the club after securing a top-four finish this season. The Spaniard has led the Gunners to the Premier League summit, with eight games remaining to discover whether they will finish the year as champions.

Very few predicted such a remarkable turnaround from Arsenal having been pipped to fourth place by north London rivals Tottenham at the end of last season, including Neville. The Manchester United icon felt that if Arsenal did finish fourth – either last season or this current one – then Arteta could walk away as they would have reached their ceiling as a club in the short-term.

“I really like Mikel Arteta, I think he’s a brilliant coach. I think the team is fantastic in terms of the young players they’ve got,” Neville said at a The Overlap fan debate last year. “But it’s interesting when you’re in a cycle of a club and you depress the ambition and have a significant period of failure because you then get really happy about finishing fourth.

“I found myself saying that about Manchester United. But it’s because of a depressed ambition. I think Mikel Arteta is a good operator. My concern is if Arsenal finish fourth this season – which to be fair, I think is 50/50, I still think there’s a long way to in that race – but if they finish fourth, that’s in some ways as good as it gets.

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“Mikel Arteta is a brilliant coach, I love that we’re seeing a team that he’s getting the maximum out of, I can see exactly how he wants to play, we all can. But he gets to fourth [and] if he was really hard about it, he’d probably say ‘Right, that’s the best I can do there, I’m going now and getting my next job’.”

Neville has been proven wrong with Arsenal’s title charge, but former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes that the Gunners need to “make a statement” to Neville this summer, by signing West Ham captain Declan Rice.

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He told talkSPORT: “That’s their ceiling [Neville said] – it’s like you [Laura Woods] said, Arsenal need to go again in the summer with transfers. Declan Rice, go and get him. Make a statement.”

David Moyes’ outfit are reportedly resigned to losing their skipper in the summer as he hopes to compete in the Champions League, having turned down the option to extend his stay at the London Stadium.

Earlier in the year Arsenal were named frontrunners in the pursuit of the England man, having missed out on Brighton’s Moises Caicedo in January, while Arteta attempts to bolster his options in the middle of the pitch.

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