Declan Rice: Arsenal's Premier League Heartbeat and Future Golden Ball Contender

Declan Rice is already the heartbeat of a title-winning side, the £105 million fulcrum around which Arsenal finally dragged the Premier League trophy back to north London after 22 long years. That alone has pushed his name into conversations that once felt reserved for a different class of midfielder, a different generation.

The whispers have grown louder: Golden Ball in 2026? Ballon d’Or talk for a holding midfielder who does the dirty work and the delicate stuff in equal measure? On current trajectory, it’s no longer outlandish. But not everyone is ready to crown him.

Rice the cornerstone, not yet the crown

Since walking into Emirates Stadium in 2023 under the weight of a then British record fee, Rice has barely missed a beat, or a minute. Mikel Arteta planted him in the centre of the pitch and built around him. Arsenal, already rising, suddenly looked complete. The engine room had its conductor.

He has become one of the final pieces in a complicated jigsaw. With Rice anchoring and driving, Arsenal didn’t just challenge; they finished the job. A Premier League title, a new standard, a sense that this project has truly arrived.

That form has naturally spilled into the international debate. England, six decades without a major trophy, head to North America this summer clinging to the hope that Rice can be the lucky charm that finally breaks the curse. If he were to lift a global crown with the Three Lions, it would rocket him up any Ballon d’Or shortlist, especially after the sting of Champions League final disappointment at club level.

A domestic title and a near-miss at a historic double already decorate his CV. The 2025 Ballon d’Or vote, where he placed 27th, came before that league triumph and before this version of Rice fully took shape. The numbers tell one story. The eye test tells another.

Fowler’s verdict: Gerrard still the benchmark

Yet when the conversation turns from “world-class” to “world’s best”, the tone shifts. Robbie Fowler, a man who shared dressing rooms and England camps with some of the most complete midfielders of the modern era, is not quite ready to elevate Rice into that rare air.

Speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of BetMGM, the former Liverpool and England striker did not dodge the obvious comparison.

“I like Declan Rice,” he said, before drawing the line that many in English football instinctively draw. “I think when we talk about Declan Rice and how good he is, you compare him, obviously, to the likes of Stevie G. If I'm being honest, I don't think he's Steven's level. That's not me being all Liverpool.”

It is the harshest, and perhaps fairest, measure available to an English midfielder. Steven Gerrard finished third in the 2005 Ballon d’Or voting, dragged Liverpool to a Champions League title almost by force of will, and still never got his hands on the Golden Ball.

“I think Declan Rice, since he's gone to Arsenal, he has become a more complete player,” Fowler added. “But I don't think he's the level that Steven Gerrard is just yet. Look, Steven Gerrard never won the Ballon d'Or.”

The praise comes wrapped in challenge.

“It is what it is in terms of his performances. He's been great for Arsenal and he's obviously gone up a notch. But I think he needs to go up another notch, if I'm being genuine in terms of his performances. It does sound like I'm having a little bit of a go, but I'm not. I think Declan Rice is a fantastic player, but I don't think he's on the realms of the Ballon d'Or list just yet.”

There it is. Fantastic. Transformative for Arsenal. Not yet “best on the planet”.

The climb still ahead

Rice will not argue. The Kingston upon Thames native has never pretended he already sits at Gerrard’s table. He knows the ladder, knows the rungs, knows how far there is still to climb.

What he has shown, at West Ham, at Arsenal, and with England, is an absolute refusal to shrink from the next step. Leave his boyhood club for a title-chasing giant? Done. Walk into a dressing room of established stars and become the standard-setter? Done again.

Now comes the international stage in North America, the kind of platform that can tilt a Ballon d’Or race in a single summer. England need a leader in the middle of the pitch. Rice is already that. They also need a player who defines a tournament.

If he can be that man, the debate shifts. The comparison with Gerrard starts to feel less like a compliment and more like a direct contest. And the Golden Ball, which today feels a touch beyond his reach, suddenly looks like a prize he might not just chase, but claim.