Roy Keane believes Arsenal paid ‘way too much’ money to buy Declan Rice from West Ham this summer.
The Gunners bought the English international for £105 million, breaking the £100 million record set when Manchester City bought Jack Grealish from Aston Villa.
Rice’s British record signing has been greeted with a lot of scepticism, with many criticising Arsenal for spending that amount of money for the midfielder.
While Rice adds a new dynamic to Arsenal’s midfield, former Manchester United captain Keane is doubtful that the 24-year-old has the ‘quality’ to justify his huge transfer fee.
Before Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City, Keane told ITV: “He’s [Rice] obviously going to be surrounded by better players.
“Different demands, if he’s going to play a little bit higher up the pitch, if he’s got that quality in terms of getting more goals. He’s obviously got that physical strength.”
“They’ve paid way too much for him, Declan Rice. He’s obviously not worth over £100m,” he added.
Although ITV’s lead presenter Mark Pougatch attempted to add balance by explaining that a similar suspicion followed Trevor Francis to Nottingham Forest when he became the first English player to break the £1million transfer buffer in 1979, Keane insisted Rice is under pressure to prove his doubters wrong.
“You can say that with lots of players, I agree, but again, we’ll find out how good Declan is over the next year or two,” Keane added.
“He turns up every week. He’s a big strong boy, and we talk about physicality, and they lacked that in the last month or two. Has he got that real top quality in terms of seeing that pass and getting nine or ten goals? We’ll soon find out.”
