Gary Neville declares Arsenal ace is a ‘Manchester United player’ | OneFootball

When discussing who he thinks could be the difference-maker for Arsenal against Manchester City on Sunday, Gary Neville declared his one to watch should have been a Manchester United player and would have been in previous eras.

Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth last time out now ensures they’re not in sole control of the destiny of the Premier League title.

Should Man City win all seven of their remaining games and overturn a small goal difference deficit, Pep Guardiola’s side would be champions again. First up for City on Sunday? Arsenal at the Etihad.

It could quite literally be a title-defining clash, and with Arsenal’s confidence dampened, they’ll be relying on their bigger names to pull the Gunners through and secure a positive result.

Declan Rice is unquestionably among Arsenal’s most important players right now, and when speaking on the latest edition of The Overlap, Gary Neville spoke highly of the 27-year-old.

The Man Utd icon insisted Rice has the ability and gravitas to be the match-winner on Sunday. Neville also let slip he was gutted his old club didn’t land the Englishman when he left West Ham in 2023.

“I do think Declan Rice is someone… when he went to Arsenal for £100m, I was gutted,” said Neville.

“I think he’s a Manchester United player. He’s the player, Harry Kane, Declan Rice, that Manchester United would have always signed back in the day.”

Neville added: “You don’t let Declan Rice go to any other club.

“He is a player who will win you the league, right? To me, on Sunday, he is the player I am looking at.

“This is not me putting pressure on him, by the way. This is me expecting that this is the Roy Keane moment, the Gerrard moment.”

Man Utd did have a happy habit of signing some of the best English talent around during the Fergie years, and especially so when buying them from mid-table sides.

Current interim boss, Michael Carrick, was famously plucked from Tottenham, Wayne Rooney signed from Everton, and Rio Ferdinand joined from Leeds, who in fairness to the west Yorkshire outfit, were higher than a mid-table team at that time.