Former West Ham captain Declan Rice has spoken of his affection for the Hammers ahead of today’s Premier League clash against Arsenal at the London Stadium.
Rice scored the final goal in Arsenal’s 6-0 thrashing of West Ham last season, a bitter pill to swallow following the former Irons captain’s £105m transfer to the Emirates.
To be fair to Rice, he has gone from strength to strength since moving to North London, although the mainstream media do have an annoying habit of crediting Mikel Arteta with making Rice a more technical player.
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The truth is, Declan was an excellent player before he left and had also added goal-scoring to his full repertoire of skills in his final season. He could dribble past opponents, had an excellent range of short and long range passing, was great in defence and attack a looked like a £100m player. Therefore, to constantly hear that The Gooners have turned Rice into a top player is slightly irritating.
Declan Rice lifts the Europa Conference League trophy as West Ham captain
Declan Rice’s was a top player before he left East London
It is also worth remerging that DC lifted a trophy as West Ham captain, which is something he has yet to achieve with silverware-chasing Arsenal.
That being said, I’m quite sure Rice will win trophies with the Gunners eventually, given the formidable team built by Arteta.
Ahead of today’s game, Dec was in a reflective mood, speaking of his love for his former home: “I know my love for them has never changed. I always said I would never celebrate against West Ham, and I don’t think I ever will. They made me who I am. I spent 10 years there; I owe them a lot.”