Declan Rice steps up as England leader as he reaches half century

It is a story that bears retelling mainly because it will make people smile. It was early last week, the England squad have joined up at St George’s Park for the Wembley friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, and Declan Rice bumps into John Stones. So, Arsenal versus Manchester City and, as everybody knows, it is Arsenal versus Manchester City after the international break – at the Etihad Stadium this Sunday. Well, not everybody, as it turns out.

“I said: ‘Big game next,’” Rice says. “And John said: ‘Who are you playing?’ And I said: ‘We’ve got you lot!’ He said: ‘Oh yeah.’ He didn’t even know they were playing us next! When he’s away from football he likes to be with his family and switch off and I get that. He likes to take one game at a time.”

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Rice goes on to mention another member of City’s England contingent – Kyle Walker, who damaged his hamstring in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against Brazil and is out of Tuesday night’s Belgium game. Walker has to be rated as a doubt for Arsenal.

“With Walks, he always has a little bit of banter, he’s a great lad but inside us, we know what a big game it is going to be, a potential title decider,” Rice says. “It is going to be really tough but if you want to get past that barrier of Arsenal being labelled as stuff, you have to go there and win.

“We have to show that steeliness and character to prove we can be one of the best teams. There’s no doubt that City are the best team in the world at the minute but we have full confidence that we can get a result.”

The first thing to say about Rice is that he is the polar opposite to Stones, always switched on to football, small details or big picture; the lot. And the aforementioned chat from a much wider one, in which Rice reflects on his meteoric rise and looks ahead to the Belgium match when he will captain his country for the first time on the occasion of his 50th cap – aged just 25 – is pretty much him in microcosm. The humour, the easiness of his company. The self-belief, the ferocity of his drive.

Five years ago, Gareth Southgate gave Rice his England debut in the Euro 2020 qualifier against the Czech Republic at Wembley, introducing him from the bench for Dele Alli in a 5-0 win. The then West Ham player looked destined for the top and things have accelerated since his £106m transfer to Arsenal last summer.

Last time out, he led West Ham to glory in the Europa Conference League. Now he has his sights set on the Premier League title, the Champions League, too. And then the European Championship. With England, he has become one of the leaders of the team. Now, with Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson, Walker, Harry Maguire and Kieran Trippier injured, he will be the leader.

Rice will become the fifth fastest England player to 50 caps – after Raheem Sterling, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford – while he was reminded that he is about to surpass the 49 caps of Sir Geoff Hurst.

“Hat-trick in a World Cup final … an absolute legend of the game,” Rice says. “The other night, we looked at the caps and the people that I’ve surpassed already. It still doesn’t feel real. To me, I’m still Dec, just a normal guy.

“Gareth came up to me on Sunday night and spoke to me about being captain. It was actually a funny setting. The staff were playing this card game called ‘Wolf’ and I was just watching. I kind of had an awkward stare at Gareth. I was just speechless. I just stood up, shook his hand, gave him a hug and said: ‘Thank you so much.’”

Rice talks about the captains who have influenced him, starting with Mark Noble at West Ham; Kane and Henderson at England level. “There is Martin Ødegaard at my club,” he continues. “I’m not thinking about it but if anything were to ever happen to him, I really would love to put the armband on for Arsenal. I love leading and being captain. It’s a real honour.”

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Rice is thinking about his speech before he leads out the team against Belgium “That’s the worst bit!” he says. “H [Kane] always speaks, then the other night [against Brazil] it was Walks. Tripps, when he was captain before, he did a funny speech and messed it up and everyone started laughing, so I know there is going to be a bit of pressure on me. I’ll keep it short and sweet. I’ve learned a lot from Hendo in that sense – just relay a couple of messages. We have to start fast and we have to win the game.”

It has not all been smooth sailing since Rice joined Arsenal. He struggled, for example, on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, playing poorly in one of the friendlies against Manchester United. The demands were new. “It was another level of training, intensity,” he says. “I felt I was unfit. I wasn’t. It was just a completely different training regime.”

Rice did what he has always done. He asked questions of the management, he studied more and more video clips, he dug deep. He says that he has learned so much, absorbing fresh information about his favoured No 6 role, where Southgate uses him, and also how to play as a No 8. His midfield teammate, Jorginho, has been a huge influence.

“Emile Smith Rowe and I were having a conversation and he said: ‘I’m going to start calling Jorginho Tom Brady because his passing is mind-blowing,’” Rice says.

Slowly but surely, Rice has built momentum, confidence. A landmark moment looms.