By Conor Hogan
**A recent Instagram post by former West Ham captain Declan Rice has split opinions among Hammers fans.**
Rice’s Arsenal side were in Champions League action last night against Slavia Prague. The Gunners ran out 3-0 winners in the Czech capital to maintain their perfect start to this season’s European campaign.
The match took place at Slavia’s stadium, the Fortuna Arena, which is where West Ham defeated Fiorentina to become UEFA Conference League Champions in 2023.
Rice captained that Hammers side to victory and expressed his delight to return to the stadium on his Instagram story before the game. He posted a picture inside the stadium, with the caption: “this exact end and stadium. The best memories here. Forever grateful”, referencing Jarrod Bowen’s historical winning goal and the Irons’ European triumph.
The post has split opinion among West Ham fans online – many saw it as a sincere gesture by the former Hammer, but some perceived the post as a shallow attempt by Rice to ingratiate himself to the fans he left two years ago.
That Conference League Final match would also be Rice’s final game in a West Ham shirt, as he moved to North London in 2023. Naturally, everything he does will probably split opinion among West Ham fans.
Most fans seem to appreciate the former Hammer’s demand for Champions League football and his desire to play at the highest level. However, there is a vocal minority that prefers to categorise him with the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Dimitri Payet, and Jermaine Defoe as a, for lack of a better word, “snake”.
But I don’t believe Rice is like those other players and any time he mentions West Ham now, I believe it is with complete sincerity and love for the club.
Likewise, when Rice is now booed by Hammers fans at London Stadium, I like to think that, unlike when Kudus returned, it is simply a playful tactic by Hammers fans, who genuinely want to see their Academy graduate succeed – unless it’s against West Ham, of course.
West Ham fans revel in Arsenal’s downfalls, often even more so if Rice is involved – but behind all the irony, there is a sincere appreciation of the man and what he achieved in East London.
Hammers supporters have found amusement in the fact that, over two years after he moved on to “win titles”, Rice has still won more major trophies with the Irons. However, I still believe the move was always going to happen – and had to happen.
Even if he hasn’t won those trophies yet, Rice has solidified himself as one of the top players in world football – he sadly wouldn’t have gotten that recognition if he was still playing for the Hammers – that’s just the way the football world works.
As a West Ham fan, I loved Declan Rice. I still love Declan Rice – last night’s post was a nice reminder that the feeling is still mutual.