ENZO MARESCA got his first glimpse of Declan Rice more than seven years ago — as the Italian helped to shape the player his Chelsea side must stop.
Maresca put Rice through countless one-on-one sessions as part of Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham staff in the then teenager’s breakthrough Premier League season.
Now, the £105million Arsenal and England star will do battle with Chelsea’s £115m Moises Caicedo as the pair look to stake their claim as Europe’s top midfielder.
Caicedo, 24, and Rice, 26, have both driven their respective sides to new heights in the Premier League and Champions League this season.
Should Rice come out on top it would be a particularly sore one for the Blues, given he was released from their academy at 14.
Rice started working with Maresca and Pellegrini as a defender before being moved into midfield, an evolution Gunners boss Mikel Arteta continued.
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Since leaving the Irons, Rice has developed from a combative midfielder to an elite box-to-box talent — as effective at winning the ball as he is dangerous with it in possession.
Maresca said: “I spent many extra sessions with Declan, one-on-one and you can see that he was already very good.
“He played with the second team as a central defender. Manuel Pellegrini decided to play him in the first team as a midfielder but then he was a different age compared to Moises.
“But you could see that he was already very, very good.
“He’s not playing as a holding midfielder. He’s playing forward, he’s playing like Enzo Fernandez.
“It’s a different position. It’s an evolution for him and it’s Mikel’s work.
“He is a fantastic player and he’s a complete player. He can defend, he can attack, he can do anything.”
Rice had started to contribute more in an attacking sense in his final season at West Ham, which had Arteta thinking up the marauding role he now plays.
Arteta said: “To be fair I had this one, I had another position that was a little bit further back to do something else and he can adapt to anything you throw at him.
“At the moment, that is what we were thinking, in front is probably much more positive for the team.”
Maresca ducked the question on whether the two are the best in the Prem — but it is plain for everyone to see that they stand above the rest.
There is plenty of respect between the two players, with Rice revealing this week that he voted for Caicedo in the PFA team of the year last season.
Caicedo moved to Stamford Bridge a month after Rice joined Arsenal — and for £9m more than the Englishman.
The Ecuador international took time to adjust to the spotlight in west London, but now looks a bargain.
Against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday, he illustrated how comfortable he is dominating the biggest games from the base of Maresca’s midfield while also chipping in with the odd long-range belter.
Rice, too, has added goals to his game, playing further forward than his Chelsea counterpart, with nine in all competitions last season and two so far this term.
And his set-piece delivery is incredible, contributing five assists so far this season.
Arteta says there is more to come from his midfield main man and believes he should be in consideration for the Ballon d’Or.
The Spanish boss said: “Being with him every single day, understanding and connecting with him in the way I have done… we are going to get more because he wants more, the team knows him better, his role is growing around the team.
“The impact he has on the team, it’s huge. Could he win the Ballon d’Or? I hope so. That would mean that we have won a lot.
“Normally, it goes very much related to that.
“Again, he was immense the other day. He’s been immense since the start of the season. He’s an incredible and crucial player for us.”
Neither player will admit to being focused on their individual battle, just as Maresca wanted to point out that this was 11 versus 11 and not just Rice against Caicedo.
But the Chelsea midfielder will have taken huge confidence from watching team-mate Estevao Willian eclipse Lamine Yamal against Barcelona in midweek and will want to do the same.
Arsenal, with Rice at full tilt, look the stronger side and the Blues have not beaten their London rivals in the last seven games and more than four years.
But victory for Maresca’s men will cut the gap at the top of the Prem to three points — and no one could call what happens from there.
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