Arsenal midfielder says he’d score more than 20 goals a season if Mikel Arteta played him up front

Arsenal have a bit of a striking problem at the moment.

Indeed, Arsenal need a new striker in the eyes of many, and the Gunners have been looking in that position for a while.

Benjamin Sesko was a target in the summer, while Mikel Arteta is a fan of Alexander Isak, so a new number nine could soon be through the door at the Emirates.

However, perhaps Arsenal could have another in-house solution.

Indeed, speaking to the club’s media team on TikTok, Declan Rice has claimed that he’d like to play up front for Arsenal, stating that he would score 20 goals a season if he played up top.

Declan Rice says he’d score 20 goals a season up front

Rice was asked which position he’d most like to play if he changed role.

The midfielder claimed he’d love to play up front as a big target man, stating that he’d score 20 goals a season.

“If you could swap positions for one game only where would you play and why?”

“Number nine, a big target man,” Rice said.

“How many goals are you getting?” Rice was asked.

“A season? 20 plus,” Rice said.

Interestingly, James Maddison has recently praised Declan Rice’s shooting ability, so perhaps he could play up front.

Rice scored seven league goals last season from an xG of just 3.32, so he is a good finisher.

Riccardo Calafiori was also asked the same question, and he gave a similar answer.

“Striker, I would love to play once there, just to feel it,” Calafiori said.

Arsenal players in their dream positions

Rice wasn’t the only Arsenal player to express his desire to change position.

Indeed, a number of Arsenal’s players also answered this question, and a number of interesting answers were given.

Suffice to say, Arsenal’s team would look like an absolute mess if everyone got to play in their dream roles.

Nobody in the Arsenal squad wants to play at full-back, so Martin Odegaard is the lone defender in front of Kieran Tierney in goal.

The midfield is also baren with Jorginho acting as the sole midfielder in a number 10 role.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have six players who want to play up front, with Declan Rice being accompanied by, Mikel Merino, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.

We’re not sure Mikel Arteta will ever try this 1-1-6 formation, but who knows? If Arsenal get a couple of red cards and need to chase a game late on, maybe we could see this bizarre formation come into effect.