Rio Ferdinand has claimed that one player has had a Jude Bellingham-esque impact at Arsenal this season.

Arsenal look destined to take the Premier League title race right down to the wire this season following an incredible run of form in 2024.

Mikel Arteta’s side have dropped points just twice since the turn of the year, which has handed them a point advantage over Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s men do have a game in hand over the Gunners but the progress from Arsenal this season is difficult to ignore.

The north Londoners had a habit of fading away at the business end of the campaign under Arteta, which led to them missing out on the title last time out. 

One man who has undoubtedly added to Arsenal’s new-found resilience is Declan Rice, who put in another exceptional display against Bournemouth on Saturday. 

Now, Rio Ferdinand has compared Rice’s impact at Arsenal to that of Jude Bellingham’s at Real Madrid.

Ferdinand makes Declan Rice and Bellingham claim

Speaking on FIVE, Ferdinand was full of praise for Rice after what has been an exceptional debut campaign at the Emirates Stadium.

The Manchester United legend believes Rice has won over Arsenal fans in a similar way to which Bellingham has in Madrid.

“It’s a huge amount of pressure to go with that (price-tag), and then to go and perform the way he has and he needed to go in there and kind of the way he plays, chest out, give me the ball, dominant figure, and again, we talked about Jude Bellingham buying into Real Madrid and then the players and the fans buying into him, on a lesser scale probably but they have done the same thing to Declan,” Ferdinand said.

“The fans loved him immediately, the players you can see really have warmed to him as well and he is a real integral part of that squad.”

Rice’s stats for Arsenal this season

While Bellingham has understandably outperformed Rice in the final third with 32 goal involvements this season, the Arsenal star’s numbers remain impressive.

Rice has netted seven times and provided 10 assists in 49 appearances for the Gunners.

That represents a brilliant return for a midfielder who was largely viewed as more defensive-minded following his summer switch from West Ham.

The 25-year-old has adjusted to Arteta’s demands with ease and will be hoping to land a Premier League title in his debut campaign in north London.