Declan Rice wins Arsenal award again

Rice received 44 per cent of the supporters’ vote, joining a select group of players to retain the Arsenal Player of the Season award, as he eased fears over an England injury.

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Declan Rice has been named Arsenal’s men’s Player of the Season for the second year running after playing a central role in the club’s Premier League title win.

The midfielder received 44 per cent of the supporters’ vote for 2025/26, finishing ahead of David Raya in second place and Gabriel in third.

Rice retained the award after a season in which Arsenal brought the league title back to north London for the first time in 22 years and reached the Champions League final for only the second time in the club’s history.

He becomes the sixth Arsenal player to win the award in consecutive seasons, joining Liam Brady, Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.

The recognition comes after another demanding campaign for Rice, whose fitness briefly became a concern when he was substituted earlier than planned during England’s win over Croatia on Wednesday in the World Cup.

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Two of Rice’s corners led to goals during a strong performance, but he left the pitch in the 72nd minute after experiencing discomfort. England manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed that the substitution had not been planned, although he played down fears of a significant problem.

“Declan has some unusual ball losses and I saw a bit of discomfort,” Tuchel said. “I asked him and he pointed directly to his lower back, upper hamstring, that he feels discomfort.

“I didn’t want to take any risks,” Tuchel added. “If I take Declan off, which I never want to do, but it was the moment to protect him. I think Reece James did so well in central midfield. That’s that.

“I hope it is nothing more. He just reassured me at the end ‘it’s good, it’s good’ and we will take care of it. I hope it is nothing to worry about.”

Rice also provided a positive update after the match and said he expected to be available for England’s next group game against Ghana.

“Yeah, all good, good as gold,” Rice said. “Just what I’ve been nursing probably in the second half of the season at Arsenal, little neural pains here and there. But yeah, I’m all good, all fine, just precaution. I’ll be back out there against Ghana.”

England face Ghana on Tuesday, June 23, at 9pm BST, before meeting Panama in their final group match on Saturday, June 27, at 10pm BST.

Rice appears likely to be available for both fixtures, although England may not need to use him in the final match if they secure top spot against Ghana.

A victory for England, combined with either a draw or a Croatia win against Panama, would be enough because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Both Croatia and Panama would then have a head-to-head disadvantage against England, even if Tuchel’s side lost their final group game.

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