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Tim Sherwood says Arsenal have a player who’s been better than Bukayo Saka this year

Charles Jones

Tue 22 April 2025 12:15, UK

Arsenal aren’t going to win the Premier League this season, but this has still been a memorable campaign for the Gunners.

Indeed, Arsenal are set to finish second once again, and while that is somewhat disappointing, there have been some real highs this term.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
2	ArsenalArsenal	33	18	12	3	61	27	34	66

This Champions League run will live long in the memory of Arsenal fans, while a number of Arsenal players have stepped up this term.

Myles Lewis-Skelly has earned huge praise this season, while Bukayo Saka has been brilliant as always.

However, according to Tim Sherwood, speaking on The Weekend Wrap, another Arsenal player has been the Gunners’ Player of the Season.

• READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano says Arsenal will try to agree a deal to sign £50m Andrea Berta target in the next few days

Declan Rice has been Arsenal’s Player of the Season

Sherwood named Declan Rice as his Player of the Season at Arsenal.

The likes of Saka, Lewis-Skelly, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have been brilliant this term, but Sherwood has been most impressed by Rice.

Rice was actually criticised earlier this year, but in recent times, he’s seriously stepped up, playing a key role in Arsenal’s recent European success.

“There are some real leaders coming to the front there, Declan Rice, for me, he’s the Player of the Season for Arsenal, he’s exceptional and he’s getting better and better,” Sherwood said.

“I think he’s an eight, he can play further up the pitch, I think you take a lot away from him if you play him as a six.”

“I always judge players based on if I want to play against them, and I don’t want to play against Declan Rice thank you.”

Arsenal Player of the Year winners

Declan Rice could be in line to win the Arsenal Player of the Year award this year, and he’d be joining a long list of top players to win this award.

Indeed, you have to be a top player to win this award, as the roll of honour over the past 10 years goes to show.

Of course, whether or not Rice wins this award remains to be seen.

There are a number of players who have a case to make to win this award, and with history still to be made in the Champions League, things could still change on this front.

At the moment, as Sherwood says, Rice is a real contender for the Player of the Year award at Arsenal, but there’s still plenty to play for at the Emirates between now and the end of the campaign.