Declan Rice may be renowned as one of the Premier League’s most humble stars off the pitch, but on it he’s a fierce warrior.
The West Ham star has been filling column inches for several months as he prepares to leave east London for a new challenge following their Europa Conference League success last term.
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While Manchester City and Manchester United have been keen, Rice is now preparing to have a medical with Arsenal ahead of a club-record move worth £105million.
Should the move be completed, Rice will be reunited with a former foe in Eddie Nketiah.
The duo were involved in angry exchange in May 2022 during a clash between West Ham and Arsenal at the London Stadium.
With the Gunners 2-1 up at the time, they were doing all that they could to wind down the clock as they went in search of a valuable win in their frail title hopes.
Nketiah was key in this, standing directly in front of an Aaron Cresswell free-kick late in the game, leading to an angry reaction from the West Ham defender as he grabbed the striker’s shirt.
A melee broke out between both sets of players, with Rice stepping in to try move Nketiah on by squaring up to the forward.
Clearly not impressed by the forward’s antics, fans are convinced that Rice could be seen saying, ‘Shut your mouth’ as he tried to put Nketiah back in his place.
The duo actually go back a long way, having spent time together in Chelsea’s academy set-up, and were once close friends.
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Speaking about his relationship with Nketiah, Rice once said: “I’ve got the best story right, Eddie Nketiah – Arsenal, when I was at Chelsea with him as a kid, we used to go on long away days – used to travel on the coach, Eddie used to bring a massive bowl – but like it would be in a big box – of jollof rice and he’d feed the whole team.”
“All the lads would be buzzing over it, he’d bring plates, knives and forks, all the way home everyone would be eating it, it was so peng, the lads used to be buzzing over it, it was so good.”
