Mikel Arteta has warned that Declan Rice is being “wasted” in his role in Arsenal’s midfield

Declan Rice has been “wasted” in his midfield role at Arsenal, according to Emmanuel Petit.

The England international was one of Mikel Arteta’s top targets during the summer transfer window and Arsenal eventually completed a £105 million deal with West Ham.

Rice has impressed since joining Arteta, but Petit believes the 24-year-old should only be deployed as a defensive midfielder and not in a more advanced position to fill the void left by Granit Xhaka.

“Declan Rice’s priority for Arsenal should be maintaining team balance and winning the ball back for his team. He does these things so well,” Petit told Compare.Bet.

“I think he’s a bit lost in the number 8 role that Xhaka played last season because he’s such a brilliant midfielder.”

“You can’t ask him to play like Xhaka played last year because that’s not his position.”

“His best position is midfielder and that is where the coach needs to use him. That is fundamental to the way Arteta wants to play.”

Petit also believes that Leandro Trossard, who has scored in each of his last two games, should now be considered Arsenal’s first choice following Gabriel Jesus’ injury.

“Even looking back on his days at Brighton, I enjoyed watching Leandro Trossard,” Petit said.

“He is such an intelligent footballer and so technically good.” His movements are absolutely extraordinary and he just has a great feel for the game. He can create chances and score goals and you can see he has an elite mentality. He has become an extremely important player for Arteta.

“The best players always have to play, and that applies to both availability and form.” Jesus spends way too much time on injuries. He can play well for a few weeks, then he gets injured and this has been happening for years.

“Trossard is always available and he rarely plays poorly. For me, he should be the first option for Arsenal’s striker.”