Manchester City defeat proves Arsenal need to sign England star Declan Rice, says Gunners hero Ray Parlour

Arsenal were beaten by Premier League title rivals Manchester City (Pictures: Getty)

Arsenal’s costly Premier League defeat to title rivals Manchester City proves they need to sign Declan Rice this summer, according to Gunners hero Ray Parlour.

Arsenal’s hopes of winning their first league title since 2004 were dealt a major blow on Wednesday night as they lost 3-1 to defending champions Man City.

The visitors took the lead midway through the first half after Kevin de Bruyne capitalised on Takehiro Tomiyasu’s weak backpass, but Arsenal were level at half-time thanks to Bukayo Saka’s penalty.

The match was finely-poised with 20 minutes remaining but Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland both scored late goals to take Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League.

Thomas Partey missed the Premier League title showdown through injury and Parlour says his former club’s reliance on the Ghana star shows they need to invest on another midfielder this summer, with Rice the ‘perfect’ target.

England World Cup star Rice is expected to leave West Ham at the end of the season and Arsenal expressed interest in signing him in January.

‘It was a very disappointing result from Arsenal’s point of view, as Man City are not the team they were five years ago,’ Parlour told NetBet.

‘Partey was a massive miss in midfield, even if Jorginho did play OK. Partey is such an important player and it’s always been my worry that it would be a problem when he became injured. Hopefully he won’t be out too long.

‘We had more depth in the squad in my day. If Patrick Vieira was missing I could play central midfield, then you had Edu who could fit in there no problem.

‘We went to Inter Milan and won 5-1 without Patrick Vieira. Partey has been such an important player this year, he’s so efficient and breaks things up, he’s good at moving the ball quickly forward and he was missed last night.

‘The shock around the stadium when they heard Partey wasn’t going to play… Everybody was gutted that he wasn’t going to be playing as that’s how important he is.

‘But you’ve just got to deal with it, Man City will miss big players during the season as well. You’ve got to have a squad that can deal with injuries and suspensions as it always happens throughout the season.

‘Without Partey, Arsenal’s central midfield depth isn’t quite good enough. If Arsenal could bring in Declan Rice in the summer he’d be a fantastic signing. A young player that’s very energetic and can get forward as well, he’d be perfect for Arsenal.

‘West Ham fans know he’ll be leaving sooner rather than later but it just depends on where he’s going. The big thing for me is if he wants to stay in London, and some people do – Sol Campbell was like that which is why he came to Arsenal…

‘Rice isn’t going to go to Chelsea as they’ve just bought Enzo Fernandez and spent a lot on him. Spurs wouldn’t want to put that much money down on a player.

‘If Declan Rice does want to stay in London, Arsenal is the only real place for him to go and I’d think they’d be favourites to get him. He’s a great age, he’s a captain so he’s learning his leadership skills. He’d be a magnificent signing.’

Arsenal will return to the top of the table if they win their game in hand but Parlour views Manchester City as ‘massive favourites’ for the title following the Emirates defeat.

‘Arsenal can still win the league, but City now with that result will be massive favourites,’ he added.

‘Arsenal have got a tricky little run in April, they’ve got City as well, and if they lose a couple of those they could be out of the title race.

‘They’re certainly still in the title race at the moment, joint top on points with a game in hand, and if they win that then they’re three points clear still.

‘They can’t feel sorry for themselves. Man City are big, big favourites to win the title now, but Arsenal are still in it.

‘It’s going to be a long and tough end to the season but Arsenal are still in a great position. If you’d have said they be at this point at this stage of the season they’d have bitten your hand off.’

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‘He would be perfect!’