Declan Rice: Arsenal's Title Hero and Ballon d'Or Contender

Declan Rice has just driven a title back to Arsenal after 22 long years, anchored their midfield like a veteran, and dragged his name into the Ballon d’Or conversation. That is the scale of his rise. Yet, for Robbie Fowler, talk of him as the game’s ultimate individual is still a step too far.

Rice arrived at Emirates Stadium in 2023 under the kind of spotlight that can crush a player. A then British record £105 million fee, the most expensive English footballer of his time, and a club desperate to turn promise into trophies. He didn’t blink. He became the heartbeat of Mikel Arteta’s side, almost ever-present, driving a team that finally wrestled the Premier League title back to north London.

He has been the missing piece in a puzzle Arsenal spent years fumbling with. The engine that allowed Arteta’s intricate, high-energy football to run at full tilt from August to May. With Rice in that holding role, they stopped being hopeful challengers and started looking like champions.

Now England want their share.

A country starved of major success for 60 years will land in North America this summer clinging to the idea that Rice can be the same catalyst for Gareth Southgate’s side. If he can carry his club form onto the international stage and lift a global crown with the Three Lions, the Ballon d’Or talk will only grow louder. A world title would shove him up the list of Golden Ball contenders and help soften the pain of Champions League final disappointment with Arsenal.

That’s the narrative forming around him. Fowler, though, applies a harsher lens.

The former England striker, speaking to GOAL courtesy of BetMGM, likes what he sees in Rice. He made that clear. But when the comparison turns towards Steven Gerrard – the old Liverpool captain who finished third in the 2005 Ballon d’Or vote – Fowler draws a line.

He views Gerrard as the benchmark, the standard Rice is being pushed against. And in that company, the Arsenal No.41 still has steps to take. Fowler pointed out that Rice has become a more complete player since his move to Arsenal, that his game has gone up a level in north London. Yet in his eyes, Gerrard’s peak remains a different stratosphere, and even Gerrard never got his hands on the Ballon d’Or.

That is the crux of Fowler’s argument. Rice is excellent. Rice has improved. Rice is central to everything Arsenal do. But Rice, right now, is not “best player on the planet” material.

The numbers back up that sense of timing. In the 2025 Ballon d’Or vote, Rice finished 27th, a long way from the podium. At that point he had no major silverware with Arsenal, his performances judged without the sheen of a league title. Since then, he has put that right domestically, adding a Premier League winner’s medal and almost pulling off a historic double. The margins were fine; the impact was not.

Now the stage changes again. Club colours off, England shirt on.

For Rice, the next few months are not just about sustaining form, but about elevating it in a different arena. International tournaments shape reputations and Ballon d’Or ballots in a way few club campaigns can. A dominant summer on North American soil, with England finally ending their wait for a trophy, would transform the conversation around him.

What makes this all the more compelling is Rice’s own stance. The Kingston upon Thames native has never pretended to be on Gerrard’s level yet. He knows the names he is being mentioned alongside. He knows the gaps. But he has also never been the type to shrink from a challenge or shy away from the highest bar.

He has climbed quickly: West Ham academy graduate, club captain, European trophy winner, £105m signing, Premier League champion. The ladder to Gerrard’s territory, and beyond that to Ballon d’Or contention, is steeper still.

Rice’s intention is clear enough. The question now is whether his next act – with England and with Arsenal – can turn admiration into inevitability and force even sceptics like Fowler to reconsider where his ceiling really lies.