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Roy Hodgson admits every Premier League manager is looking for a player like Declan Rice to anchor their team as he prepares his Crystal Palace side to come up against the England midfielder on Monday. The 24-year-old’s £105million move to Arsenal from West Ham last month made him one of four players in his position to have been bought for a nine-figure fee by European clubs during the last eight months, as the value placed by top sides on central midfielders has rocketed. Rice is part of an elite group that includes World Cup-winner Enzo Fernandez and his new Chelsea team-mate Moises Caicedo – both signed by the Blues for British record fees – and England’s Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in July, with each having been signed for fees that could exceed £100m. Hodgson’s Palace began the Premier League season with a 1-0 win at promoted Sheffield United but face a stern test when last year’s runners-up arrive at Selhurst Park, with Mikel Arteta’s side buoyed by the arrival of Rice to add steel to their midfield ahead of their return to the Champions League. Experienced manager Hodgson said that, whilst it remains the game’s great goalscorers that command the highest fees, the importance of a deeper-lying central midfielder has been proven by English football’s most successful sides. “I think it (central midfield) has always been big,” said Hodgson. “I don’t think it’s anything new. You will never be able to align it to centre forward because centre forwards will always be right up there as really big ones. “It’s still Neymar and (Kylian) Mbappe that go beyond our hundred million pounds here. Harry Kane, yes he cost just over a hundred million (when he signed for Bayern Munich), but only because he was in the last year of his contract. If he’d have had a three-year contract, Tottenham would have been asking for a lot more money. They score the goals. The game is about goals. “But I think the midfield area is an area where people within football have always understood the importance of it and the importance of getting good players in, none more so than Sir Alex (Ferguson) at Manchester United because he always had really, really top-class players in that centre of midfield, all of whom brought him trophies. “(Rice) has got strength, he’s got energy, he understands the game very well. He gets from box to box, and when he’s in each of the boxes, he does a really good job. He knows how to defend and he also has an eye for goal, so really he’s the type of player that every person is looking for.” Hodgson enjoyed the boost of winger Michael Olise turning down the chance to join Chelsea last week after Mauricio Pochettino’s side activated a £35m release clause. The France Under-21 international, who Palace signed from Reading for a relatively modest £8m two years ago and has since flourished into an accomplished Premier League performer, instead opted to agree a new four-year deal to continue his development in south London. He will be missing from Hodgson’s team to face Arsenal as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury. Yet it is Arsenal’s transfer business that occupied Hodgson’s attention ahead of Monday’s game, with Rice set to make his second Premier League start as the Gunners look to go one better and take the crown from champions Manchester City. He knows how to defend and he also has an eye for goal, so really he's the type of player that every person is looking for. Roy Hodgson on Declan Rice “It’s been an interesting development for him,” said the manager. “I’ve followed him a little bit myself through (James) Tomkins (who) told me about him many years ago. He said there’s a very good young player at West Ham, and I’ve seen that as he’s gone along. “He’s done his apprenticeship really, coming through the ranks. He’s done his years at West Ham, each year getting better, and in the end becomes an international and clubs are (thinking) ‘who can I get who’s the best at his particular job for this role?’ “Declan Rice’s name is always going to be right up there on the top of the list, as was Bellingham of course at Real Madrid.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Pep Guardiola ‘amazed’ by Manchester City hunger at start of new season I’ll be there for him – Dele Alli always has friend in Spurs star Son Heung-min Mauricio Pochettino confident of rapid Chelsea improvement after West Ham defeat

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Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or on this day in 2018, marking the first time since 2007 the award did not go to either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder broke the stranglehold placed on France Football’s prestigious award by Messi and Ronaldo in the previous decade at a ceremony in Paris. Argentina forward Messi and former Real team-mate Ronaldo and had each won the Ballon d’Or on five occasions since Brazilian Kaka did so in 2007. In his acceptance speech, Modric said: “It’s a unique feeling. I am happy, proud and honoured. I have sensational emotions at the moment that are really hard to describe in words. “First of all, I would like to thank my team-mates and coaches at Real Madrid and all the people who work for Real Madrid, all my coaches and team-mates with the national team, all those who voted for me and of course, my family, my wife and kids. “They are fulfilling me as a person and helping me in all aspects to be successful as a professional. “As a kid, we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club, to win important trophies. I dreamed about it, but the Ballon d’Or was more than a childhood dream for me and it’s a real honour and a privilege to hold this trophy.” Modric’s recognition was reward for a fine 12 months during which he helped his club lift the Champions League for the third successive season before playing a key role in Croatia’s surge to the 2018 World Cup final. He won the Golden Ball for his contribution in Russia and was named the Best FIFA Footballer of the Year, and was the first Croatian to claim the Ballon d’Or. Modric, now 38, is still playing for Real Madrid and helped his country to the World Cup semi-finals last year in Qatar. Read More Eddie Howe salutes performance as Newcastle end gruelling week with Man Utd win Ding Junhui beats Judd Trump to set up UK final showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan Pep Guardiola knows Man City fans will be behind team if ‘bad moments’ arrive Win ‘blows belief into Everton’ after points deduction – Sean Dyche Dwight McNeil fires Everton to morale-boosting win at Nottingham Forest Paul Heckingbottom stands by his work as Sheffield United lose again