AFTV have announced the signing of Declan Rice to Arsenal in their own special way, but some of the reaction probably wasn’t what they were hoping for.
The England international has finally made the move to the Emirates Stadium from West Ham for £105million – the most Arsenal have ever spent on a player.
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And while the club’s announcement was somewhat understated, AFTV have released their own video celebrating the arrival of Rice.
Playing a cover of Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice, Ice Baby’, AFTV stars sang over the top of ‘Rice, Rice Baby’.
Full of meticulous choreography and filmed outside the Emirates, the video has since gone viral on social media, led by AFTV presenter and dancer Cecil Jee Thomas.
But not all for the right reasons, with many fans taking potshots at those involved.
One fan replied: “Small Club Mentality.”
Another wrote: “Your fans are so embarrassing.”
A third fan, who supports Tottenham, said: “By far the most embarrassing fanbase. That huge title bottle couldn’t have happened to a better club.”
And this supporter put: “Honestly, I’ve never been so glad to not be an Arsenal fan.”
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While another posted: “I’m sure Cecil is a nice guy but my goodness he’s insufferably cringe. He’s bringing AFTV down.”
But not all the comments were negative and some were blown away by the dance moves on show.
One fan said: “This is pretty cool. Let’s break the internet today.”
While another wrote: “This performance deserves a Bafta nomination. Incredible artistic flair!”
Rice joins Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz through the door at Arsenal where Mikel Arteta has already spent over £200m.
Whether any new signings arrive remains to be seen with the Gunners also linked with Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo and Moussa Diaby.
In his first words as an Arsenal player, Rice said: “I think I’ve been looking at Arsenal over the last couple of seasons and the trajectory that they’ve been going on.
“The season before last they finished fifth but you could see the style of play Mikel was implementing.
“And then last season obviously, it was an outstanding season, blew every team out of the water pretty much.
“I think with Mikel, with how he works, the squad, how young everyone is, the energy now around the club and also the challenge.
“The challenge of now getting Arsenal back to where they belong, that means a lot to me and I know the fans really want that.”
