Declan Rice: Arsenal's Title-Winning Midfielder and Ballon d'Or Contender

Declan Rice has just driven a title back to Arsenal after 22 long years. He has become the heartbeat of Mikel Arteta’s midfield, the £105 million signing who finally made sense of an ambitious project at Emirates Stadium. With that has come a new conversation: is this the man who can crash the Ballon d’Or party by 2026?

Some believe so. Rice’s influence on Arsenal’s rise is impossible to ignore. Since arriving from West Ham in 2023 for a then British record fee, he has barely missed a beat, anchoring a side that has grown in authority and maturity with him patrolling the engine room. He looks like one of the last, crucial pieces in a title-winning puzzle.

Now comes the next test. England, starved of a major trophy for 60 years, head to North America this summer with hope and expectation colliding once again. Rice is central to that. If he can carry his club form onto the international stage and help the Three Lions claim a global crown, his name will climb sharply up the Ballon d’Or shortlist. Champions League final heartbreak with Arsenal would suddenly feel like a stepping stone rather than a ceiling.

Not everyone is ready to anoint him, though.

Fowler’s verdict: Rice still chasing Gerrard’s shadow

Robbie Fowler knows what an elite England midfielder looks like. When he weighs Rice’s credentials, he reaches for the highest domestic benchmark: Steven Gerrard.

Asked by GOAL, via BetMGM, whether Rice can become a regular contender for the Golden Ball, Fowler did not hesitate to set the bar brutally high.

“I like Declan Rice,” he said. “I think when we talk about Declan Rice and how good he is, you compare him, obviously, to the likes of Stevie G. If I'm being honest, I don't think he's Steven's level. That's not me being all Liverpool. I think Declan Rice, since he's gone to Arsenal, he has become a more complete player. But I don't think he's the level that Steven Gerrard is just yet. Look, Steven Gerrard never won the Ballon d'Or.

“It is what it is in terms of his performances. He's been great for Arsenal and he's obviously gone up a notch. But I think he needs to go up another notch, if I'm being genuine in terms of his performances. It does sound like I'm having a little bit of a go, but I'm not. I think Declan Rice is a fantastic player, but I don't think he's on the realms of the Ballon d'Or list just yet.”

That is the crux of the debate. Rice has transformed Arsenal’s midfield and elevated his own game, but Gerrard operated for years at a level where he dragged Liverpool through European nights almost by force of will. Gerrard finished third in the 2005 Ballon d’Or vote. Rice, by contrast, came 27th in 2025.

From 27th place to the elite?

That 27th-place finish underlined the gap. At that point, Rice had not yet tasted major silverware with Arsenal. The respect was there, the performances noted across Europe, but the game’s most prestigious individual award still felt distant.

This season has changed the picture. Rice now has a domestic title to his name, a central figure in the side that finally ended Arsenal’s long wait to bring the Premier League back to north London. He came agonisingly close to a famous double as well, pushing for more history before falling just short.

That matters when voters sit down with their ballots. Titles, big nights, defining performances in pressure games – they shape Ballon d’Or campaigns as much as any highlight reel.

The climb still ahead

Rice himself would not argue with Fowler’s assessment. The Kingston upon Thames native has never claimed to sit alongside Gerrard in the talent stakes. He knows the rungs still above him. He knows what it means to be mentioned with the greats and how far he has to climb to stay there on merit rather than potential.

What he has never done is shy away from that climb.

Rice has built a career on embracing challenges: leaving West Ham as captain and local hero, walking into a dressing room chasing titles, carrying the weight of a record fee, then thriving under it. Now he steps into another demanding chapter with England, where the stakes are measured not just in medals, but in decades of national frustration.

If he turns that pressure into a trophy on North American soil, the conversation around him will shift again. From title-winning lynchpin to genuine Golden Ball contender. From “not at Gerrard’s level yet” to a midfielder writing his own era.

The Ballon d’Or may not belong to him now. The question is simple: how long before it has to take him seriously?