SOU MUST BE JOKING! - Rice fires back at Souness after Arsenal star accused of 'cheating' by Liverpool legend

Declan Rice has hit back after Graeme Souness claimed the England midfielder is “cheating” and playing “old man’s football.”

Rice is regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football but Liverpool legend Souness claims the Arsenal star plays more like a centre half.

Souness, now a respected TV pundit, said: “A lot of the time, he doesn’t play in midfield. I think he may be a centre-half. He’s back there all the time. It’s old man’s football. It’s cheating. An old man’s way of playing midfield.”

Rice, who helped Arsenal to win their first title in 22 years and England to the World Cup semi final in July, said: “For a centre-back, I think my numbers are not bad!

Get our comprehensive football coverage, with news, updates, opinions, analysis and everything that matters to you, straight to your inbox.

To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:

1. Head THIS WAY

Make sure you don't miss the best Arsenal coverage by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

“My numbers since I joined Arsenal speak for themselves. I think I’ve had a lot of assists, a lot of goals and to be a top-class centre-back getting those numbers I’m delighted with that!

“Look, Graeme’s got his opinion. I think he’s had his opinion probably since my West Ham days, if I’m being honest with you. But it’s one of them things. As an ex-pro you’re going to have an opinion on something.

“I’ve seen his views. I can’t change his opinion. I can only do what I do, which is go on the pitch, perform, play well and block out the noise. I can’t really say much because he was way before my time … I didn’t really get to see Graeme as a player.

“Obviously I know him as a pundit. So I’m sure if I met him in person there would be no disrespect there. I’d shake his hand. I’d chat with him. Yeah, it doesn’t matter. It’s an opinion at the end of the day. It’s football.

“Look, if you speak about, as you said, the positioning and old man’s football, look at Harry Kane. We played him the other week against Bayern Munich, he dropped next to the centre-backs 20-30 times in the game to pick up the ball. The game's different now.”

Rice will be key to England’s hopes of beating Spain in their winner-takes-all Nations League clash in Madrid on Sunday night.

Rice, who will win his 82nd cap, said: “This is massive. You are going away to the Metropolitano, playing the world champions in a game to see who can top the group. I don’t think it can get any bigger than that.

“We have a massive motive to win the group, to beat Spain, as the away team would be a massive thing for us. Already, the mindset is in a really good place, the manager’s messaging has been really good so we need to go there and put on a performance.”