Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has grown to understand the close-knit friendships running throughout the Gunners’ squad, but one bromance left him lost for words
Arsenal star Declan Rice was lost for words when trying to explain Takehiro Tomiyasu’s friendship with team-mate William Saliba.
Rice, who joined the Gunners in a club record move in the summer of 2023, starred in his first season with the club. Ahead of year two, he appeared with Tomiyasu and Leandro Trossard in club media, where the trio spoke about squad dynamics.
“Him and Saliba are like… you wouldn’t even put it together,” Rice says, while he and Trossard each make a gesture to represent tightness. Explaining the friendship, Tomiyasu says Saliba is “also calm and quiet”, prompting a chuckle from Trossard.
As the team-mates talk, a collage of photos appears on screen. The pictures show Tomiyasu and Saliba together, in training and on a flight out for the Gunners’ pre-season tour.
Saliba and Tomiyasu both played their part last season as Arsenal boasted the best defensive record in the Premier League. The France international was an ever-present, starting all 38 Premier League games, while the Japan star appeared in just over half the available matches during a campaign interrupted by injury and the Asian Cup.
French centre-back Saliba was part of his national team’s side in their run to the Euro 2024 semi-finals. He returned to pre-season action for the friendly victory over Bayer Leverkusen on August 7, and scored in a victory over Lyon a few days later.
If he is on the winning side against Wolves this weekend, Saliba will become the fastest Arsenal player to reach 50 Premier League wins. He has 49 from 65 appearances, and Nacho Monreal’s 50 from his first 70 games is the current record.
Arsenal are among the favourites for the Premier League title this season, having finished a close second in each of the last two seasons. However, former England striker Alan Shearer has warned manager Mikel Arteta of the perils of continuing to go empty-handed.
“It depends, if they don’t win anything then you look at the bigger picture and how close they’ve come and how good their football is and their injury situation,” Shearer told The Rest is Football podcast.
“You have to look at all those things. But eventually he’s going to have to win something, whether that is this season or not. But that has to come at some stage doesn’t it.”
“We all recognise how formidable Manchester City are, there’s no doubt about that, which makes it very difficult for Arsenal. But at some point he’ll need to win something and take that extra step, but their progress has been really good. I doubt he’ll be under pressure unless they completely slide away this season.”
