Arsenal could still sign another Rice-like midfielder

Arsenal star Declan Rice is one of the best midfielders in the world, but there’s no question that he wasn’t at his rip-roaring best for England across the duration of their World Cup campaign.

The all-powerful midfielder swallowed down an injury issue and dug in across a long and taxing month in North America, and for Mikel Arteta, he will be acutely aware that his influential assistant needs more support ahead of the 2026/27 season.

It is important to strengthen when at the top, and the

Premier League champions certainly aren’t resting on their laurels this summer, with Emirates technical director Andrea Berta closing in on a deal for Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes.

Why Rice and Guimaraes will get along at Arsenal

Arsenal are growing optimistic about their chances of signing Guimaraes this summer. The 28-year-old wants to leave Newcastle and sign for the Emirates side.

Recent reports suggest that Guimaraes wants the move wrapped up imminently; though conflicting news currently tell different stories as to the closeness of a club-to-club agreement, there’s no question that Arsenal are ready to complete a deal north of £70m.

Look at Sandro Tonali, now of Tottenham Hotspur. The robust, physical, tireless Italian was facilitated by Bruno’s brilliance on the ball. The partnership was a sweet one, and it certainly helped that the Brazilian won 5.8 duels and 2.1 tackles on average in the Premier League last year.

Rice is less intense, and instead, could find himself freed up by such a silky and intelligent playmaker beside him. As we saw at the World Cup, Rice is not an out-and-out passer. He is not a pure passer, but that makes him no less sublime.

The point here is that Guimaraes and Rice could work perfectly in tandem, creating an even more solid and dynamic midfield structure, from which Arsenal could blow their competition away.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope Arsenal welcome Guimaraes to Arteta’s brood ahead of the new season. He could be an absolute game-changer.

However, Guimaraes and Rice are contrasting profiles, if both elite, and you could argue that the Londoners need yet another addition to serve as Rice’s understudy over the coming year.

Arsenal holding talks to sign World Cup star

At the end of England’s World Cup campaign, Rice was clearly and understandably exhausted. Arteta needs to balance out his lieutenant’s workload more efficiently next season, but to do that, he might need a stylistically similar midfielder to partner Guimaraes.

According to German outlet Fussball Daten, Arsenal are in direct talks with the agents of Japan World Cup star Kaishu Sano, who is eager to leave Mainz this summer. Liverpool and Tottenham are also among the parties engaging in talks.

Valued at €60m (£51m), the 25-year-old wouldn’t be cheap, especially when considering the outlay needed to prise Guimaraes away from St. James’ Park.

Would Sano’s arrival jeopardise someone like Zubimendi? Perhaps, especially if he arrives alongside Guimaraes, but the Gunners need to consolidate their position over the coming year, defending their Premier League title while challenging for the Champions League.

Sano fits the bill. He is a robust and tireless midfielder with an all-action approach and a penchant for driving forward, connecting midfield with attack. In that, he could emerge as the perfect Rice understudy, perhaps giving the 27-year-old some much-needed respite.

With Sano bearing such a curious likeness to Rice, it’s safe to assume that he would not be starting week in and week out for the Gunners. After all, it looks like Berta is going to close a deal for Guimaraes, leaving Arteta with a midfield force to be feared.

There’s a case to be made that Sano is a more progressive carrier than both Rice and Guimaraes. He certainly shows them both up on the data charts, such as they are, and covers even more ground than Rice, dribbling with more conviction and consistency.

Guimaraes has become less of a carrier over the years in the Premier League, only completing 38% of his dribbles in the Premier League last year, and that is why he and Rice could strike such an interesting partnership – and why Sano would be the perfect understudy.

His overwhelming stamina and eagerness to take on opponents would quickly endear him to Arteta, who might also find himself able to – finally – give Rice a rest at times across the coming year.

Remarkably, the Three Lions centrepiece played 69 times for club and country last season, clocking up 5,437 minutes. That’s untenable year on year, and Sano would solve that problem while providing the manager with a player who has the potential to assist a title-defending Arsenal side.