Former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has sung the praises of Declan Rice.

Cesc feels Rice has made a huge impact of the Premier League leaders.

"Slowly, slowly you see that this team is growing," Cesc told the London Evening Standard. "This is 100 per cent a fact.

"You see the way they are competing in a different manner. The way they prepared the game against City, even I didn't expect it. I was expecting a completely different approach, but you see that they are managing maybe the situations a little bit better.

"They are getting this experience, the coaching staff and the players, to find different solutions. It is great to see and I do think they are very close to getting something very soon.

"They are on the right way, 100 per cent they are getting there, 100 per cent they are now Arsenal. You go around Europe, you speak to coaches, top teams, fans and they will all say that Arsenal are one of the best teams to watch and compete."

On Rice, he added: "For me, he was already a proven player.

"You could see for two, three years that he was ready to jump into a big club. It's all about his quality, but also his personality. I knew straight away this was a fantastic signing. This was exactly what Arsenal needed."