Mikel Arteta has suggested that Declan Rice could be in the Ballon d'Or conversation if Arsenal keep winning at the highest level. His comments came shortly after his man-of-the-match performance in Arsenal's strong 3-1 win over Bayern Munich , which was covered by SoftFootball in detail.
The midfielder played one of his best games of the season in that match, and the result pushed Arsenal to the top of their group, setting the tone for these bigger conversations around individual awards.
Arteta explained in a post shared by Fabrizio Romano on his official X account that the idea of Rice winning such a prize is connected to the team's overall success, which is why he keeps stressing the collective part.