How ‘wonderful player’ Bruno Guimaraes will help Declan Rice at Arsenal - with ‘starting every week’ prediction made by former Gunners striker

Guimaraes stepped off the bench in that contest with a little over an hour played. The Gunners had just pulled level, after seeing Riccardo Calafiori cancel out James Justin’s opener, when Mikel Arteta decided to shuffle his pack. Within seven minutes of being on the pitch, former Newcastle star Bruno had crashed an unstoppable drive from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.

Captain Odegaard and England international Rice were both involved in the build-up. The former rolled a pass into the feet of the latter, who flicked the ball through his own legs and into space 19 yards out. Guimaraes did the rest, with Arsenal underlining why they are reigning champions.

The north London heavyweights do boast impressive strength in depth, with the likes of Guimaraes, Viktor Gyokeres, Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze, Jurrien Timber and teenage wonderkid Max Dowman all being named among the substitutes.

Ezri Konsa was handed a starting berth, as he helps to cover the injury-enforced absence of William Saliba, but was another to join Arsenal over the summer despite no guarantees being offered when it comes to regular game time on a long-term basis.

Asked if that business underlines where Arsenal are right now, with their global appeal impossible to ignore, former Gunners striker Dickov - who was speaking in association with 247Bet - told GOAL: “It does. And I think you need that to compete at the top level when you are the Premier League champions.

“And to make that next step, get to the Champions League final, you need to bring in players that will improve you, not just your starting XI, but the squad. And create that healthy competition that's in there.

“I think Konsa is a wonderful signing, because obviously Saliba has been out - who they miss, and who they have missed. And Bruno, for me, is one of the top midfielders in the Premier League.”

Dickov added on Guimaraes swapping Newcastle for Arsenal in a £75 million ($99m) transfer: “I think him going in there just adds that little bit of vibe, a little bit of experience. And also maybe takes a little bit of weight off Declan's shoulders as well, because he's been outstanding for the last two or three years. He can't continually do it all on his own in the middle of the park.

“[Myles] Lewis-Skelly’s come in and done a great job, but he's still a kid. Obviously, Odegaard last season was out a lot injured. Although he’s started the season really, really well.

“But I just think someone like Bruno’s a player that can go in there and maybe take a bit of the pressure off Declan and Martin a little bit. And I can see him eventually, although he's been coming off the bench, starting every week and being a main part of that Arsenal team, because I think he's a wonderful player.”

Guimaraes, who netted another spectacular strike from distance in a victory at Sunderland in September, was making his home debut for Arsenal against Leeds - having previously figured in five away games.

Arteta believes there is more to come from a man that saw his pre-season disrupted by a big-money transfer saga. The Gunners boss said on the back of a battling win over Leeds: “This is the level for Arsenal. Every week, every game, every minute, every action, you have to be at that level. At Brighton he wasn't, today was much better. He can still be much better than the games he has done.

“That's what we have to demand. This is what I demand of myself. I'm going to demand the same of the players, because if we do that it will raise the standards and we will be a better team.”

Arsenal - who remain second in the Premier League table after six rounds of fixtures, three points adrift of faultless Manchester City - will be back in Champions League action on Tuesday when playing host to Lille.

Guimaraes will be eyeing a starting berth in that contest, with Arteta in a position where he can rotate and offer much-needed breaks to the likes of Odegaard and Rice - with more fuel being found for his midfield engine room.