Declan Rice is one of the world's best players in his position and is a great signing for Arsenal, according to John Barnes.
England midfielder Rice completed his move from West Ham to Arsenal last week in a transfer that could reach a value of £105 million.
Rice racked up 204 Premier League appearances for West Ham and bowed out by leading the club to success in the Europa Conference League.
Opta data showed he made more interceptions (63) than any other player in the Premier League last season.
Ex-England international Barnes has no doubts about Rice's ability to make an impact with Arsenal as they challenge for Premier League and Champions League glory under Mikel Arteta.
Rice made his first Arsenal appearance on Wednesday as his new side opened their US tour by comprehensively beating Wayne Rooney's MLS All-Stars 5-0 in Washington DC.
"Declan Rice, for a defensive midfield player, I think is one of the best in the country, if not the world, so, therefore, it's a great signing for Arsenal," Barnes said to Stats Perform.
"It is a great signing. He's very, very good. I would've loved him at Liverpool, but obviously, he wanted to go to Arsenal. He's a London boy.
"Arsenal have got what they needed. They have Thomas Partey in that position and Arsenal have always been a good footballing team, but they have lacked a bit of strength and protection for the back four and he will then give them that.
"That is as well as obviously signing Kai Havertz, a player with good experience, so they have made some very good signings."
Rice's England team-mate Jude Bellingham has also been on the move, swapping Borussia Dortmund for Real Madrid.
Bellingham completed 88 take-ons in the Bundesliga last season, the most by any central midfielder across Europe's big five leagues in 2022-23.
Barnes also believes that major transfer will prove to be a success as long as the 20-year-old does not try to do too much to meet any unrealistic individual expectations.
"He has been fantastic and I think he will do very well," Barnes said about Bellingham.
"However, he's not going there to be the superstar player. Of course, they had it with Cristiano Ronaldo and there was Lionel Messi at Barcelona, but Real Madrid doesn't have that [in the current team] – look at Eden Hazard [struggling] there.
"Bellingham is a hard-working midfield player who is not going there to be a Messi or Ronaldo because that's not the type of player he is.
"If you look at what they have there in terms of [Eduardo] Camavinga and [Aurelien] Tchouameni, they have got lots of good young players who are hardworking midfield players and Bellingham will be one of those.
"Bellingham is not going there to be a Messi or Ronaldo – he is going there to help that situation whereby the age of the squad has come down. He's a very, very good midfield player who will help Real Madrid.
"As long as he recognises that he's not going there to be the best player in the world in terms of what the public expect, like for him to score 30 goals a season and to be dribbling around people.
"He does his job which he does very well and he will be very successful."
Dortmund have flown under the radar to reach Champions League final, says Terzic
Borussia Dortmund have benefited from going under the radar during their "unbelievable road" to the Champions League final, according to head coach Edin Terzic.
The Black and Yellow will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the showpiece on June 1, following a hard-earned 2-0 aggregate win over Paris Saint-Germain in the last four.
Dortmund came into this season on the back of a bitter Bundesliga title loss on the final matchday of the previous campaign, with a 2-2 draw against Mainz handing the title to Bayern on goal difference.
While Terzic's side have been unable to launch a genuine challenge on the domestic front this term - currently occupying fifth place and 24 points adrift of newly crowned champions Bayer Leverkusen - it has been a different story in Europe.
"There is always a team that no one has on their radar that reaches the quarter-finals or the semi-finals," he said. "We wanted to be the team that were not necessarily on anyone's radar. That road has been unbelievable."
Indeed, it has. Dortmund began their campaign with a 2-0 defeat at PSG and goalless draw at home to Milan, but recovered to top Group F before seeing off PSV and Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively.
The 1997 Champions League winners then produced a defensive masterclass across both legs of their semi-final with PSG, to reach their first final since 2013.
"After the second matchday, almost no one believed in us any more," said captain Emre Can, who made his 50th Champions League appearance during the second leg at Parc des Princes.
"We only had one point after two matches, but we kept believing and that was the most important thing. Keeping two clean sheets in two matches against PSG is no mean feat."
Mbappe admits 'I didn't do enough' following PSG's Champions League exit
Kylian Mbappe shouldered the blame for Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, which saw them exit the Champions League semi-finals 2-0 on aggregate.
Mbappe, who is set to leave PSG at the end of the season, was unable to inspire the Ligue 1 champions as they fell short in their latest quest to land the European crown.
The France captain registered a game-high three shots on target and 12 touches in the opposition box during the second leg at Parc des Princes, but his tally of just 51 touches overall was the second-lowest recorded by any PSG player.
And the 25-year-old admitted he should have made a more significant contribution towards his team's cause.
"I tried to help my team as best as I could, but I didn't do enough," he said. "I'm the guy who should score goals and be decisive. When things are good, I take all the limelight and when they are not, you have to take the shadow.
"That's not a problem. The first one who should have scored tonight was me. That's life, and we have to move on - me and the team."
PSG enjoyed the lion's share of possession (69.5 per cent) during the second leg and registered four times as many shots as their opponents did (30 to seven), hitting the woodwork four times.
"In decisive Champions League matches, when you're not effective in both boxes, it's difficult to get through to the next round," Mbappe added. "Even more so when we're talking about a final.
"We're certainly disappointed, but it's not all doom and gloom. We need to build on that and keep working, because I'm sure we'll get there."
Luis Enrique 'proud' of PSG despite Champions League semi-final exit
Luis Enrique expressed his pride at the efforts of his Paris Saint-Germain side, despite their Champions League exit at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.
The Ligue 1 champions were knocked out in the semi-finals on Tuesday after a 2-0 aggregate loss to the Bundesliga giants, having hit the woodwork six times over the two legs - making it a record tally of 14 for the campaign - and managed 31 attempts at Parc des Princes.
PSG missed a golden opportunity to reach their second Champions League final, but it is not all doom and gloom after a season of transition with a new coach.
The Ligue 1 title is already in the bag with three matches remaining, and they have a Coupe de France final showdown with Lyon to come later this month.
"We were not inferior over the two legs, but football rewards those who score - not those who hit the woodwork," Luis Enrique said.
"My goal was to be fighting for all the titles. Tonight I'm proud of my team, of all the players."
PSG have now lost all six legs of their three two-legged Champions League semi-finals, after double defeats against Milan in 1995 and Manchester City in 2021.
The year they reached the final, in 2020, they beat RB Leipzig in a one-off semi-final after COVID-19 disrupted the season, before losing out in the final to Bayern Munich.
This season started with a new coach in Luis Enrique and without Lionel Messi and Neymar, as club president Nasser al-Khelaifi put an emphasis on building a team over individual talents.
While not always brilliant, PSG have looked like an organised outfit and the coach said he was already working on building a team without Kylian Mbappe, who is widely expected to leave at the end of the campaign.
"The players and coach gave their all," Al-Khelaifi said. "Congratulations to Dortmund, we deserved better. It's a tough game. I'm proud of my team, the youngest in Europe.
"We've reached the semi-finals three times in five years. That's not our objective; it's still the final. That's soccer; you have to accept it and sometimes it's not fair. We'll accept it."
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