Arsenal transfer took them to the ‘next level’ as rival boss talks up title chances

Arsenal saw off Crystal Palace on Sunday with Oliver Glasner acknowledging the quality they have, especially in Declan Rice as the club-record signing continues to produce

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner claimed the signing of Declan Rice took Arsenal to the “next level” with their continued investment making them an incredibly tough team to come up against.

His Eagles side were narrowly beaten at the Emirates with the club’s former favourite Eberechi Eze scoring the winner following his summer move to the Gunners. It was the fourth win on the bounce for Mikel Arteta’s side.

The Spaniard has been able to morph the north Londoners into one of Europe’s elite outfits in recent years, owing in part to some shrewd recruitment. After Arsenal’s first title charge several years ago they went out and signed Rice from West Ham.

They landed the England midfielder in a club-record deal worth more than £100million and Rice has proved to be a huge success. Now regarded as one of the best in his position worldwide, Glasner insists he was a game changer with the team now having so many strings to their bow.

He said: “They play on the top level of the world and this is what they are showing: consistency, always analysing what kind of players to add to the squad to make the next level.

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‘”And that’s over years, not just this summer. They saw Declan Rice two or three years ago and they bought him for £120m from West Ham… always exactly knowing what kind of players they need to make the next step and then integrating them into their structure.

“Defensively, they are compact and always relying on their structure on set-pieces, having a fantastic balance in the game, so I think all of this and developing over many years now, doing many things right… then you are challenging for the Premier League title.”

Arsenal saw Liverpool and Manchester City lose over the weekend, meaning they are seven points clear of the Reds and six clear of Pep Guardiola’s side. Arteta has presided over four wins on the bounce to take control of the title race.

Since adding Rice the Emirates hierarchy have continued to invest in their squad, making Arsenal favourites to end a 21-year wait for Premier League success. Match winner Eze was one of several summer signings with Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke also joined.

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