Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has criticised Declan Rice's all-around game as the West Ham United captain continues to be linked with a move to Arsenal.
In the last fortnight, the Gunners have seen two bids for Rice rejected by the Hammers, football.london understands. The north London outfit had a first bid of £80million plus at least £10million in add-ons rejected last week for the England international before another offer, which remained under West Ham's £100million asking price, was turned down on Tuesday.
With the 24-year-old having completed England duty, Arsenal are expected to push ahead in finding an agreement and a third bid is expected to follow in the near future. But the 24-year-old's ability in the final third could be a worry, according to Reds icon Souness.
Speaking about Rice on talkSPORT, he said: "If you’re looking for a top, top midfield player, I don’t believe he has enough cute passing in him to be that. I think he’d be a really good guy, he’d be great to work with, extremely athletic, he senses danger so he’s got that part of a central midfield player’s game, he’s got that.
"So he’s got that instinctively, but what he doesn’t have is cute and clever passes when he gets into the last third. I think he’s a little bit predictable when he gets on the ball personally."
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When asked if the Hammers star's game would improve under Mikel Arteta's stewardship, Souness added: "He’d make Arsenal better. Would he personally get better? Not sure.
"[James] Maddison has got that final ball. I’m not sure if that’s something he [Rice] can develop.
"This is not a criticism, we’re talking about someone worth £100million. But for me, the top midfield players have what he has, and have the cuteness of play further up the field, and they’ll score goals and they create chances. His record is 204 games, 10 goals, 10 assists."
Rice may not produce the goal and assist tallies of Martin Odegaard or Kevin De Bruyne but there is no doubt that his ability to win the ball back is second to none. In fact, he led the Premier League last season when it comes to interceptions, registering 63, as per fbref.
He also recovered the ball more times than any other player in the English top-flight with 334 balls covered.
