Declan Rice Ranks Second Behind Only One Central Midfielder
declan rice has been graded as the second-best central midfielder in Europe this season, with only one player above him. The Arsenal and England midfielder sits just behind a Ballon d’Or winner while helping drive Arsenal’s push for the Premier League title and Champions League.
Rice and Gradient’s ratings
The ranking comes from Gradient’s Player Grades, which measure execution rather than outcome. Its analysts evaluate over 2,000 events per game, grade each one on a scale of -2 to +2 in 0.5 increments, and turn those marks into a 0-100 game and season rating across over 50 grading categories. Gradient also separates central midfielders from attacking midfielders, which is why Rice is being measured against players in the same role.
That puts him at the sharp end of a list that stretches across Europe’s top five leagues. Only one other Premier League representative made the top 10 central midfielders, a small sign of how hard it is to keep pace with the best in this role across the continent.
Vitinha, Kimmich, Valverde
Paris Saint-Germain’s Vitinha leads one part of the discussion with 105 passes per 90, more than any other player in the Champions League. PSG average 68.6% possession across all competitions and 66.6% in the Champions League, numbers that fit the style of a side that spends long stretches with the ball.
Joshua Kimmich remains Bayern’s orchestrator with a 92.7% pass completion rate, and he is graded second-highest in Germany overall for passing behind Bayer Leverkusen’s Aleix Garcia. He is also top in Germany for pressured passing. Federico Valverde, who was rejected by Arsenal after a trial at 16, has been Real Madrid’s unsung hero for some time, and no central midfielder in La Liga has made more passes this season than he has.
Arsenal’s midfield edge
Rice’s placement is the cleanest read on how he is being viewed this season: not as a good Premier League midfielder, but as one of the two best central midfielders in Europe. For Arsenal, that matters because the grade is tied to output in a title race and a Champions League push, where control in the middle of the pitch has to show up every week.
Manchester United’s search for a central midfielder this summer sits in the same frame. They are said to have Aurelien Tchouameni on their list, though Nicky Butt called that a “long shot,” and Real Madrid are reported to be determined to keep him. The market around elite midfielders is already tight, and Rice’s ranking only sharpens the gap between the players setting the standard and the teams still looking for one.
