Arsenal have already sold their homegrown Declan Rice for just £750k

Declan Rice, eh? We’ve pretty much run out of superlatives since the England international’s mega £105m move to Arsenal last summer.

Everyone knew Rice had the potential to become an elite player. He was already nearly there at West Ham after skippering them to European glory in the Conference League last term.

However, his displays after moving to the red side of London have been elite. Not just a defensive midfielder who can break up the play, the 25-year-old is now involving himself in the offensive phases of play with greater regularity.

The club’s record signing is already having the best campaign of his career from that perspective, scoring six goals and supplying seven assists too. He’s also become a wizard from set-plays, now a regular taker of corners and free-kicks for the Gunners.

He’s made the eye-dropping sum of money spent on him in 2023 look like a bargain but did the Gunners sell a homegrown version of the former Hammer? Quite possibly.

Ben Sheaf left in 2021 but has been sublime in the Championship for Coventry this season.

Why Arsenal sold Ben Sheaf

The midfielder was always on the periphery of making his mark in the first team without ever really getting his chance.

Arsenal knew the Hale End graduate had potential, even Arsene Wenger realised that. The great Frenchman handed the player his senior bow back in October 2017, with the youngster coming on for Francis Coquelin in a Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade.

That said, he didn’t quite live up to what may have been expected of the coaching staff in and around the academy at the time.

Sheaf only appeared for the club on two occasions at a senior level, enjoying mixed loan spells with the likes of Stevenage, Doncaster and finally Coventry.

It is with the Sky Blues that he eventually took up a permanent home. Aged 23, Arsenal let the midfielder leave. They knew they had to. If you’ve not made a breakthrough in the Premier League by that age it’s unlikely you’ll make the grade.

A modest fee of £750k was agreed with Coventry where, interestingly, he is now looking like a top-flight player in the making.

How Ben Sheaf compares to Declan Rice

Coincidentally signing for Arsenal from Rice’s beloved West Ham in 2014, Sheaf is now enjoying a fabulous time with Mark Robins’ Coventry.

They sit seventh in the Championship, fourth points off the play-off places but with a game in hand. Thus, there is a real possibility that we see the former Arsenal academy man in the Premier League next season.

Should he get his chance to make it in the top flight, it would be just reward for one of the hardest workers around.

Said to be “one of the better players in the Championship” by analyst Ben Mattinson, another analyst in Raj Chohan has even described the now 26-year-old as “Rice-esque”.

Why? Well, he’s becoming a press-resistant machine with incredible work rate and the ability to make huge tackles.

Although playing at a different level this term, there are some close matches in terms of their key numbers this season.

While Sheaf plays a little further forward than Rice – registering more shots and key passes – their statistics when it comes to progressing play, carrying the ball and overall touches are uncanny.

To suggest selling Sheaf was a mistake would be pushing the boat out a bit but it’s clear Edu let go of a wonderfully gifted player.

Of course, they now have the swashbuckling talents of Rice to capture the imagination at the Emirates Stadium but perhaps in another life, it could have been the Coventry City star playing the same role.