Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been a vital player for Mikel Arteta this season after his side won the Premier League title with potentially more glory to come in Europe this weekend
20:00, 28 May 2026Updated 20:00, 28 May 2026
Declan Rice of Arsenal holding Premier League trophy
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Declan Rice has been at the heart of Arsenal's Premier League title win and run to the Champions League final(Image: Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock)
Declan Rice has been crowned BBC Sport’s first-ever Premier League Player of the Year. The Arsenal midfielder has been instrumental in ending the Gunners' 22-year wait for a Premier League title, with Mikel Arteta's men ending the campaign seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
Rice arrived in north London from West Ham in July 2023 for a club record £105million fee and has been a superb signing. The 27-year-old will next look to help his side win their first-ever Champions League in Saturday's final against Paris Saint-Germain.
One potential frustration this season for Rice though has been missing out on several individual awards to Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese beat Arsenal's midfielder to be crowned Premier League player of the season and Football Writers' Association men's Player of the Year this month.
But Rice has finally got one over the playmaker who registered a single-season record 21 top-flight assists this term for Michael Carrick's team. The brand new BBC award has recognised the England international as player of the year.
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Those who contributed to the voting included Dion Dublin, Chris Sutton, Danny Murphy, Shay Given, Nedum Onuoha, Theo Walcott, Steph Houghton and Ellen White, alongside BBC Sport commentators and journalists.
Meanwhile, Gunners head coach Arteta has won the BBC's Premier League Manager of the Year award after guiding his side to glory. The Spaniard has previously been criticised for failing to get Arsenal over the line after three straight runners-up finishes.
However, he finally got his hands on silverware after guiding the Gunners to Premier League glory and a first trophy since the 2020 FA Cup. Arteta can now write his name in the history books when his team face PSG this weekend.
Mikel Arteta applauds
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been crowned manager of the year (Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images))
And key to victory in Budapest will be Rice, who has described himself as a 'big-game player' as he aims to play the game of his life against Luis Enrique's men.
In an interview with UEFA ahead of facing PSG, the Arsenal midfielder backed himself to relish the showpiece event. He said: "I would like to say I'm a big-game player.
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"When you play in the biggest competitions, you need your players to step up at every single point, and not only just me. I think our team have done that over the last few years in big games – we've stepped up, especially in the Champions League.
"There's a few of us that have got that in us, and we're going to need that going into the final as well. In football, you can't determine before the game whether you're going to play well or not. It's the unknown.
"But what you can control is how you start the game off, how [much] confidence you can build within yourself. And whether that's with your first touch, a tackle, a header, always do the first thing right, and you build from there."