Declan Rice excited to reunite with Eddie Nketiah at Arsenal
Declan Rice has joined Arsenal from West Ham in a £105m transfer (Photo: Getty)
Declan Rice says he is looking forward to once again playing with his close friend Eddie Nketiah after completing his Arsenal transfer.
On Saturday, Arsenal officially confirmed the signing of Rice from West Ham for a record-breaking £105million.
The highly-coveted midfielder is excited to get to work under Mikel Arteta and already knows several of his new teammates through his time with England but has also revealed that he has a close connection to one Gunners star in particular.
Rice and Nketiah’s history
‘I played with Eddie from under-nines to under-14s [at Chelsea],’ the 24-year-old told Arsenal.com.
‘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.’
Having been a fringe player in his early career, Nketiah has grown in stature at the Emirates in recent times, scoring 19 goals across the last two seasons, despite still being a second-choice striker.
Rice’s thoughts on his new teammates
As mentioned, Rice is already well-acquainted with a number of the Gunners squad through international duty and spoke highly of his club and country compatriots.
‘Yeah, it’s going to be an honour [to play alongside them]. There are some unbelievable players I’ve played with at international level and now I get to share those same duties at club level,’ he added.
‘All of them have spoken so highly about the club – how each and every one of them have improved under the manager. When you hear things like that, you really take it in your stride and listen.
‘You’ve got players like Saks [Bukayo Saka], who’s now one of the best wingers in the world. There’s Rammers [Aaron Ramsdale], who is one of the best keepers.
‘You’ve got Whitey [Ben White] at right-back, who was unreal last year. There’s [Emile] Smith Rowe and so many in the squad. They all speak so glowingly of the club and the direction it’s been going in the last few years, so it’s really exciting.’
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