Jarrod Bowen believes West Ham United fans were right all along about Declan Rice.
Rice was consistently talked up as an elite-level midfielder during his days at West Ham United, but it was only after a move to Arsenal when he started to make global headlines.
To boo or not to boo, that is the question… 😂
That probably speaks to what is known as the big-club bias. Players who do not play for a global powerhouse are generally overlooked to a certain extent, as Bowen himself proves.
Rice is set to return to the London Stadium when West Ham play Arsenal on Sunday, and Bowen believes the supporters here in east London and beyond who constantly talked up the midfielder as one of the best in the world have been vindicated.
Bowen says West Ham fans were right to say Rice was one of the world’s best
Speaking to West Ham’s official website: “He’s gone on and gone to show his quality and to be spoken about as one of the best midfielders in the world, which I know a lot of West Ham fans were saying about him at the time here and no-one ever believed them.
“But I think, as he’s gone on, people have started to open their eyes and realise how good a player that he is with what he’s gone on to do, scoring big goals and having big games for Arsenal. He’s gone on and stepped up another level again, which says a lot about him as well. He’s always demanding more of himself and is a brilliant, brilliant player.”
Imaging you’re in Nuno’s shoes; Who are you bringing in to face Arsenal? 👞
There’s little doubt that Rice is attracting more eyeballs now. That is just the reality of the footballing landscape.
Still, Rice was brilliant for West Ham and reached a Euros semi-final with England while clad in claret and blue.
The West Ham academy graduate also produced excellent performances in the club’s campaigns across the Premier League, Europa League and of course the Conference League.
Rice still cares deeply about West Ham and refused to celebrate after scoring against them last season.
For West Ham supporters, it was clear that Rice was going to the very top. It is just a shame that modern football largely prevents clubs in their position from building around a player like that for many years to come.
Big club bias is a real thing and there can be few finer examples of it than Rice. While not to say he hasn’t improved since leaving, the idea that he wasn’t already one of the best in at least Europe during his time with the Irons is little short of fanciful.
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