Mikel Arteta told Arsenal have their own Yaya Toure as huge Rodri Man City point made

Mikel Arteta has been told his very own Yaya Toure can help guide Arsenal to the Premier League title. The Gunners have been on the cusp of domestic glory in the past two seasons only for Pep Guardiola's Manchester City to pip them both times in the final weeks.

Gradually, Arteta and Edu have built a hugely competitive squad to compete for trophies with Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori all as marquee signings in the last 12 months. Of the recent signings, though he has struggled in the first few games of the new season, it is Rice who has arguably made the biggest impact

However, Arsenal are yet to kick off this new era by winning a significant trophy with Rice, despite a number of crucial performances, still considered the second-best defensive midfielder in the Premier League behind Man City's Rodri.

For him to make that step up, former City midfielder Yaya Toure believes there is one thing holding him back. "He needs to be in a winning team because the team that wins the league has the best players," he told Futbin.com.

"He’s competing with Rodri. You can’t underestimate Rodri for what he’s done and what he’s achieved with Man City and now with Spain. He’s a good player. He’s a competitor. Those two are there but Rodri has been winning more trophies than Declan. This year Declan has to change that. Winning trophies makes the difference."

Though Toure makes it clear what Rice needs to do in order to be considered on par with Rodri, he goes on to suggest the England international is not a mould of the latter and is instead closer to what he was doing in his playing days.

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He said: "When you look at the details of Declan’s game in terms of winning the ball, running with the ball, going forward and dribbling, even assists. Declan is looking like what I was doing before. Trying to assist and dribble.

"Rodri is more build-up, reading the game very well, stopping counter attacks, passing. That’s the difference between them." Though Rodri has also began contributing in front of goal, Rice has become a crucial part of Arteta's attacking set up, so much so that he plays in a No.8 role more often than anchoring the midfield.

Merino's preferred position is as a box-to-box midfielder which could result in Rice being more frequently used in a as a No.6 this season, which is his preferred midfield role.