FOOTBALL
By Eishna Rawat
Posted on June 2, 2026 5:00 pm | Updated on June 2, 2026 12:58 pm Jack Whitehall once told Declan Rice he’d never win a trophy. He was wrong.
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Nobody saw this coming quite as Jack Whitehall did. The comedian, and one of Arsenal’s loudest famous supporters, once looked Declan Rice in the eye and told him a trophy was beyond him. The Arsenal news these days tells a very different story, and Whitehall couldn’t be happier to be wrong.
The latest Arsenal news is about the Trophy Jibe That Came Back to Bite
This one goes back to a Comic Relief filming session. Whitehall found himself in the same room as Declan Rice and, being the comedian he is, couldn’t resist the wind-up. He kept telling the midfielder that wining silverware was beyond him. Honestly, at that point in his football career, it wasn’t the most outrageous thing to say.
As reported by, football.london, Whitehall reflected on the moment by saying, “It was a cool full circle moment, as he was getting significant trophies as well.” The joke had aged terribly, and Whitehall was the first to admit it.
The only major honour the former West Ham skipper had before moving to Arsenal was the Europa Conference League. That context made the jibe sting a little less at the time. Then came the £104 million switch to north London in 2023, and gradually, everything started to change for Declan Rice.
Declan Rice Delivers and the Numbers Back It Up
Few midfielders in the Premier League this season gave as much as he did over the course of a long and grinding campaign. Week in, week out, he turned up pressing, passing, tackling, and creating. The £104 million price tag never seemed to weigh on him, and if anything, he grew into that expectation rather than crumbling under it.
Declan Rice for Arsenal in 2025/26, as per FotMob:
Competition Matches Goals Assists Tackles Interceptions
Premier League 36 4 5 70 37
EFL Cup 6 0 2 4 5
UCL 13 1 2 17 15
What made his season stand out wasn’t just the attacking returns, though. His defensive work quietly held this Arsenal side together. As reported by Heavy.com, Rice was named in the Premier League Team of the Season. He was selected after the Gunners conceded just 27 goals all campaign. The best defensive record in the division this season. That kind of recognition doesn’t come without earning it every single week.
And yet, none of it came easily. As reported by football.london, he had already sat through two Premier League runners-up finishes, a League Cup final loss to Manchester City, and a Champions League exit before this title arrived. Plenty of players fade after that kind of heartbreak, but he just kept going.
Declan Rice and the Celebrations That Said It All
As reported by footballgroundguide, Declan Rice was among the last players to leave the Emirates the night they won the title, with the party going on until 5am. Months earlier, cameras had caught him telling teammates “it’s not done” after a loss to Manchester City. Arsenal fans mocked it at first, then turned it into a chant at Selhurst Park once he proved them all wrong.
Whitehall was there on the Selhurst Park pitch too. He joked to football.london that he was“our team’s version of Salt Bae”, getting right in among the celebrations with the players and their families.
For Arsenal news readers, this subplot gave the title story a lovely personal touch. Whitehall took a dig at Declan Rice years ago, probably never imagining it would come back around like this. It did, and now he’s the one eating his words.
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Eishna Rawat
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