Izuchukwu Okosi
Arsenal on Saturday evening unveiled new signing Declan Rice after protracted negotiations over the structure of the transfer fees with West Ham United.
The 24-year-old UEFA Conference League winning captain of West Ham joins the Gunners on a long term deal which broke the English transfer record at £105m.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelArsenal were initially in talks over the period of the payment but that resolved late Friday night.
Rice had his first interview with the Arsenal Media with his unveiling accompanied with a song by Nigeria’s Afrobeats artiste, Odumodu Blavk and outlined his desire to win the major title at the Emirates.
“My ambitions now are to win with Arsenal again. I think this fanbase deserves it. There has been FA Cups, Community Shields, but now it’s time to go one step bigger and win the Premier League, win the Champions League, and I wouldn’t be here if I did not believe that,” the midfielder is quoted by the official Arsenal website.
Arsenal last won the Premier League in the 2004/2005 season.
On his view of Arsenal from the outside, Rice said:
“I think even growing up, the history of Arsenal – you always hear about the Invincibles, the famous game at Anfield, you see these things all the time.
“I’ve always known Arsenal as a big club but when I’ve been on holiday and had people coming up to me in London, you don’t realise how big Arsenal is – but now I do.
“Playing against them has always been tough, with the Arsene Wenger way of playing nice football, tiki-taka stuff.
“Coming to the Emirates has always been really hard. Home games, when I’ve played for West Ham, have always been the games you’ve been up for because it’s been a London rivalry.
The England international who will wear his favourite number 41 jersey opened up on his opinion about the fan base.
“One thing about Arsenal is the fans are so passionate. They’re not scared to voice their opinion and rightly so, because this is a massive club.
“They demand – and us as players should demand that of each other – to push and to be successful again. Those are the main things.”
Rice will be reunited with a former teammate in Eddie Nketiah.
“I played with Eddie from under-nines to under-14s. We were both released on the same day and it’s crazy where football takes you, your journey. He’s made it through the ranks at Arsenal, I made it through the ranks at West Ham. Now we get to link back up again.”
“I’ve always loved Eddie, even though we had that little altercation on the pitch before! I’ve always loved him and been close to his family. His dad is a top, top guy who used to come on all the tours with us as kids, so I’m really looking forward to seeing Eddie again and of course the other boys.”
Rice and Dutch international, Jurrien Timber whose signing was confirmed on Friday are expected to be sort of the Arsenal squad heading to the United States on Sunday for the second leg of their pre season friendlies.
Mikel Arteta’s side will play against top English and European clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona including a clash with the MLS All Stars team.
The MLS side will hand debut to eight-time Ballon D’Or winner, Lionel Messi, who joined the franchise from Paris Saint-Germain.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
