Declan Rice Confident in Handling Heavy Workload for Arsenal
Declan Rice is adamant his body can take the strain again. Sixty games, seventy games – he is not backing down.
The Arsenal midfielder, who squeezed an exhausting 69 appearances into last season for club and country, insists he is ready to shoulder a similar burden despite the club’s concerns after his gruelling World Cup campaign.
Last winter, Rice revealed he had been managing neural back and hamstring pain during the tournament, an issue serious enough to require a pain‑killing injection following a hamstring injury in December. Arsenal’s medical staff have been on alert ever since.
He had barely three weeks off in the summer before reporting back for pre-season, returning to training just a week before the Community Shield. That schedule would drain most players. Rice treats it like a challenge.
“I think for the last six seasons, even since my West Ham days when they were in Europe, I’ve played 60-plus every season,” he said. “So I think it is sustainable because I’ve shown that I can do it.”
Arsenal are not taking that for granted. The club are understood to be tracking the 27-year-old’s workload closely, aware of the cumulative toll of Premier League, Champions League and international duty on a player who rarely comes off the pitch.
They spent £75m on Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle in part to ease that load, building a midfield that would not collapse if Rice finally needed a breather. Yet the reality on the ground tells its own story.
Rice came off the bench to replace Guimarães in the Community Shield win over Manchester City in Cardiff and has started every Arsenal game since, with the Brazilian’s own return from injury being carefully managed. When Arsenal went to Napoli on Wednesday in the Champions League, it was Rice who stayed on for the full 90 minutes. Mikel Merino made way for Guimarães. Rice did not.
The engine keeps running.
“It’s just about maintaining it, maintaining the level and the consistency of the performances,” Rice said. “For me, that’s the main thing, showing up every week, giving a good account of myself and helping the team win. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do that. So I’m really hungry to be able to do that again this season.”
Arsenal had offered him more time off after the World Cup, wary of the physical and mental strain. Rice pushed back. He wanted to be ready for the opening whistle of the new campaign and turned down the chance of an extended break.
The schedule will not relent. He is expected to be named in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Spain, Czechia and Croatia when it is announced next Friday. Whether he is asked to start all four matches is another matter.
Arsenal are likely to make their stance clear: Rice and Bukayo Saka, both central to everything Mikel Arteta’s side do, could use another window to rest. International managers rarely enjoy being told to ease off, but the evidence from Rice’s own words at the World Cup is hard to ignore.
He admitted that period had pushed him to the edge.
“I feel really good at the minute, in really good form, so we’ll make it continue,” he said. “I think everyone knew I had an issue with a neural hamstring. But also on the top of the Premier League season, which was so demanding, the Champions League, to then play a World Cup in that heat really does take its toll.
“I’m a player that goes on the pitch, wants to be fresh and give 100% every time I put on an England shirt. Yes, there were stages where I felt really, really good and stages where I didn’t feel so good. There were a few things that frustrated me, just with myself, just not feeling 100%. It’s one of those things I just had to manage.”
That honesty underlines the risk. Rice will always push to play, even when his body is whispering the opposite. Arsenal, chasing titles on multiple fronts, can hardly afford to lose him, yet cannot keep asking him to carry the same load forever.
For now, though, the message from their midfield general is clear: keep the games coming. How long can he keep defying the limits that usually catch up with everyone else?
