Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been named BBC Sport’s first-ever Premier League Player of the Year, capping a remarkable individual season.
Rice was instrumental in ending Arsenal’s 22-year wait for a Premier League title, with Mikel Arteta’s side finishing seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
The 27-year-old joined Arsenal from West Ham in July 2023 for a club record £105million fee and has proven to be an outstanding acquisition for the Gunners.
Rice had previously missed out on individual honours to Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, who won both the Premier League player of the season and the Football Writers’ Association men’s Player of the Year this month.
Fernandes registered a single-season record 21 top-flight assists for Michael Carrick’s team, claiming those awards ahead of the Arsenal midfielder throughout the campaign.
The brand new BBC award has now recognised Rice, with voters including Dion Dublin, Chris Sutton, Danny Murphy, Shay Given, Nedum Onuoha, Theo Walcott, Steph Houghton and Ellen White, alongside BBC Sport commentators and journalists.
Arteta also claimed the BBC’s Premier League Manager of the Year award after guiding Arsenal to the title, having previously endured three straight runners-up finishes.
The Spaniard secured Arsenal’s first trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, and can add further history by guiding his side to Champions League glory this weekend.
Arsenal face Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s final, with Rice describing himself as a “big-game player” ahead of the showpiece event in Budapest.
In an interview with UEFA, Rice backed himself to deliver on the biggest stage, saying: “I would like to say I’m a big-game player.”
He continued: “When you play in the biggest competitions, you need your players to step up at every single point, and not only just me.”
Rice added that several Arsenal players possess the mentality to rise to the occasion, noting: “There’s a few of us that have got that in us, and we’re going to need that going into the final as well.”
The England international also spoke about how preparation and mindset can shape a player’s performance, regardless of the occasion’s magnitude.
He explained: “What you can control is how you start the game off, how confidence you can build within yourself, and whether that’s with your first touch, a tackle, a header, always do the first thing right, and you build from there.”
