Graeme Souness has delivered another scathing assessment of Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, suggesting he might be better suited to playing in defence because he operates ‘too deep’.Rice has established himself as a key figure for both Arsenal and England since his £105million move to the Emirates in 2023, but Souness remains unconvinced the 27-year-old has the qualities required of an elite central midfielder.The Gunners star, who played a pivotal role in steering Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years last campaign and helped guide his country to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer, was singled out for criticism and labelled ‘limited’ by Souness after England’s heartbreaking defeat against Argentina. Appearing on Piers Morgan’s new Football Uncensored show on Monday after Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over title rivals Chelsea at the weekend, Souness doubled down on his view of Rice.’How many times do you see him as the last man with the ball,’ Souness told Morgan. ‘In the build-up, he’s last man. He’s sitting between two centre-halves or between the centre-half and the full-back. He’s last man. A lot of the time, he doesn’t play in midfield. ‘In my second or third home game (of my career), I went into the back four like all midfield players do today. It’s old man’s football. It’s cheating. An old man’s way of playing midfield. You get the ball under no pressure and you play it out to the full-back.’ Graeme Souness has delivered another scathing assessment of Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice He believes the England star is more of a ‘centre-half’ and ripped into him for playing ‘too deep’Souness went on to explain how he was eviscerated by team-mates at half-time after he dropped back to pass 10metres between the centre-back and full-back – and from then on was ‘told to play in midfield’ further up the pitch.’He (Rice) plays too deep to affect the game,’ Souness added. ‘I don’t think he’s got enough football. Let me tell you what he can do. He’s the best defensive midfielder in the country right now, he smells danger. But then again, he’s back there all the time.’He’s not a midfield player then is he? I think he may be a centre-half. The ball travels faster than you do. I see him run with the ball 30 yards and pass it square. He’s a lovely kicker of the ball and opens his body up well, there’s nothing to dislike about him. But modern players are a bit precious. Criticism doesn’t fall easily on these (players’) shoulders. He isn’t the complete midfield player.’Morgan then responded with the claim that Rice is a world-class midfielder, to which Souness added: ‘I’m not sure if he gets in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Man City. If you want the best in that position, City had two of them – Fernandinho and Rodri. They played in midfield. Next time, please watch him. He goes in and gets it cheap under no pressure, a 10-yard pass off Gabriel, and passes it sideways.’Souness also again blamed Rice for his role in England’s World Cup semi-final collapse against Argentina in July. ‘When England went one-nil up against Argentina, they s*** themselves. “Oh, what do we do now?” And I put that down to Declan Rice and (Elliot) Anderson as the central midfield players in the engine room,’ he said.’They didn’t get them playing. They went back in held hands with the back four.’ So far this season, Rice has helped Arsenal claim three wins from their opening three matches against Coventry, Aston Villa and Chelsea, sitting second in the Premier League behind title rivals Manchester City on goals scored. Arsenal have bolstered their ranks in midfield with the £75million acquisition of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United this summer, who started Sunday’s 2-1 victory at the Emirates on the substitutes’ bench. Rice played a key role in helping Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in 22 yearsRice, one of the most durable players in the Premier League, played 55 games for the Gunners last campaign in a crucial role for Mikel Arteta, who will now have the option of resting him more frequently after the arrival of Guimaraes. Arsenal take on Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday before travelling to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland on Saturday.