Arsenal legend Gilberto Silva says he is keen to see Declan Rice play alongside Thomas Partey in the Gunners’ midfield.

The ‘Invincible’ firmly believes that the two players could form a partnership not dissimilar to the one he developed with Patrick Vieira:

“I’d highlight Rice as the key man, he’s adapted very well. He’s a great boss and I’m looking forward to seeing him play with Partey. I think they could complement each other like me and Vieira.”

As Gilberto mentions, Rice has been outstanding since arriving from West Ham in the summer but he hasn’t had many minutes playing alongside Partey.

Partey’s injury problems have prevented a partnership from developing

The Ghanaian international has been sidelined with a thigh injury since October. He underwent surgery to fix the problem but it has taken him over four months to get back to match fitness.

Partey has been pictured in full training this week. He wasn’t on the flight out to Portugal for the Porto game midweek but he could feature in the Arsenal squad this weekend when the Gunners take on Newcastle.

Will Arteta play the two players alongside each other in Arsenal’s midfield?

It should be noted that manager Mikel Arteta did partner Partey and Rice in midfield for the Community Shield but that is the only time the Spaniard chose to pair them together.

Prior to Partey’s latest injury, he was selected mostly on the right-hand side of defence as Arteta experimented with using him as an inverted fullback.

The position didn’t really play to his strengths, though, and fans will be hoping that Arteta reverts to deploying him as a midfielder on his return to action. Considering how well the team has been performing without Partey, he may find it hard to get back into the starting eleven.