Declan Rice has made a very bold claim indeed about his relationship with the West Ham United fans.
West Ham sold Declan Rice to Arsenal in the summer for around £105 million, having captained us to our first major trophy since 1980 just a couple of months before.
The 25-year-old clearly still thinks very highly of the Hammers and our fans, and he apparently helped convince Kalvin Phillips to move to the London Stadium in January.
However, many West Ham fans were unhappy with the way that Dec left, especially after it emerged that he was pleading with Kai Havertz to join Arsenal, before he himself had actually moved to the Emirates.
Rice has been brilliant for the Gunners, there’s no denying that, but Moyes replaced him well with the signings of Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse.
That said, it cannot be denied that we miss him in the middle of the park – which team wouldn’t? So what does the midfielder think of the boos he received from certain sections of the London Stadium faithful when he returned last month?
Declan Rice makes very dubious claim about West Ham fans
The England international has been talking about his exit from the Hammers to join the Gunners.
And Rice opened up on how he still loves the West Ham fans, when speaking to ESPN:
“It was so tough. We lost in the cup to them. We lost in the league at the Emirates; I didn’t play well and gave away a penalty. The West Ham fans bantered me and I can 100% take that; I played for West Ham for 10 years and I know how they work. When I went over to take the corner, there were a few boos, but there were claps as well. I know my love for them has never changed; their love for me has never changed. It is one of those things where you move on. Obviously, I scored a great goal, it was really odd. Even speaking about it now, it is weird. A lot of the lads asked me afterwards, ‘How does it feel?’ It was a bittersweet feeling, really odd.”
I think Declan is overstating the West Ham fans’ love for him here…or certainly vast amounts of us.
As mentioned earlier, there were many Hammers fans who didn’t appreciate the way in which he ended up leaving the club. Let’s not forget, he allegedly held a private meeting with Mikel Arteta six months before he moved to the Emirates (The Mirror)!
He has left the Hammers now, so I reckon it’s just time for us all to move on. One thing’s for sure though, Declan Rice will never be remembered by the West Ham fans in the way that other former legends are.
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