'He's so tenacious': Declan Rice so impressed by £6m Arsenal player in training recently

Declan Rice returned to the side last night after serving a suspension in the Premier League, and was quick to praise one of his teammates after the game.

Arsenal managed to make do without Declan Rice in the North London derby as Jorginho slotted in seamlessly into his position.

Alan Shearer was blown away by the performance of Jorginho, stating that he was the ‘ultimate professional’ against Tottenham.

Mikel Arteta is going to need Rice to be at his best in the Premier League on Sunday if Arsenal are to get the better of Manchester City.

As well as Rice, the Spaniard will be hoping his attackers can find that finishing touch after failing to really cause any problems for Atalanta on Thursday night.

Interestingly, Rice was full of praise for one of those attackers after the game…

Declan Rice says £6m Arsenal player has been brilliant in training

Arsenal had five players miss training ahead of the Atalanta game, as Oleksandr Zinchenko was suffering from an injury, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney were also not present.

Mikel Merino was another not present but he’s getting ever closer to a return to the side.

Declan Rice was in training ahead of the Atalanta clash and he clearly likes what he’s seeing from one of his teammates at London Colney.

When speaking on TNT Sports after the game, the Englishman revealed how impressed he has been by Gabriel Martinelli’s performances in training.

“One thing with Gabby is he’s quiet but he’s so tenacious. You know, you see him in training you know he’s ratting constantly, he’s always trying to get himself into the right areas.

“You know in training everyday he’s working after training on them types of things with our attacking coach. Cutting balls across the box and scoring goals.”

Gabriel Martinelli’s performances so far this season

Mikel Arteta was furious with Martinelli against Tottenham. He was seen jumping around in anger after the Arsenal attacker had a shot and missed.

Ian Wright feels as if the pressure of Leandro Trossard threatening to take his place is really getting to Martinelli, but he does feel as though he’ll come good.

The South American was one of the bright sparks for the Gunners last season with eight goals and five assists, but he’s just looked so low on confidence in the current campaign.

Raheem Sterling’s addition is set to pile even more pressure on Martinelli to perform, and the early signs in training are that the Englishman is on fire in training.