Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have certainly changed a lot this season, the club’s project has entered a new era.
Arteta’s first couple of years at the club were focused on improving a fragmented squad, one without a clear direction.
Not only is it incredibly impressive to recall that Arteta won the 2020 FA Cup with David Luiz and Rob Holding as centre-backs, but it also shows how far the side have come.
There were some difficult periods to follow that trophy win, it was never going to be a seamless transition.
But Arsenal’s squad and trajectory is now unrecognisable from those days, thanks to the work of Edu Gaspar and Arteta.
The duo changed the direction in which Arsenal were heading, and will hope they can still achieve serious silverware this season.
Declan Rice’s arrival last summer was a real barometer of how far the club had come.
And although many celebrated that move at the time, Garth Crooks has now admitted he wasn’t so sure.
Garth Crooks admits he’s changed his mind about Declan Rice at Arsenal this season
Whilst Crooks never doubted Rice’s ability, he says he did think the fee was ‘ludicrous’ at the time, something he couldn’t get his head around.
Crooks was reviewing Rice’s performance against West Ham United in his Team of the Week when recalling the fee last summer.
And the pundit was sure to admit that he quickly changed his mind when he saw just how imperious Rice would be at Arsenal this season.
Crook said: “I thought the price tag of £105m for Rice was ludicrous. The fact that Arsenal actually paid it was quite astonishing.
“After all, those sums of money are normally reserved for strikers scoring 20 goals a season. However, since the arrival of the former West Ham captain at the Emirates, he has looked imperious.
“Long gone are the extravagancies of Granit Xhaka, in exchange for a far more acceptable and even-tempered Rice, who is a far better footballer anyway.
“The ball he provided for Gabriel to head home was a peach, while his strike that put Arsenal 6-0 up was as good as they get.
“What is plain to see is that Rice has grown as a player since his arrival at Arsenal.
“He’s certainly playing for a better side and with better players, but he has acquired a confidence and authority that comes with it.”
Never in doubt
In truth, Rice’s move to Arsenal should have appeared as a no-brainer from the off set.
If there was any concern about the midfielder stepping up from West Ham, then you need only look at his performances for England.
So whilst Crooks has had to eat his words to a degree, Arteta will have been certain from the moment Rice arrived.
That being said, one Arsenal player has been quietly doing a tremendous job for the side this season.