On Wednesday, West Ham ended a 43-year wait for a major trophy as Declan Rice helped them to victory in the Europa Conference League semi-final second-leg win at AZ Alkmaar. Amid speculation he could have played his last game for the club, Rice expressed his love for West Ham and said he still had two years left on his contract. “At the moment there’s a lot of speculation going on about my future,” Rice told BT Sport after lifting his first major trophy. “There is interest from other clubs but ultimately I still have two years left at West Ham. I love this club and I love playing for this club. My focus is playing for West Ham at the moment. I’m captain of this club and I can’t speak highly enough of this place. Let’s just see what happens. Let’s wait and see. Who knows?”
West Ham manager David Moyes said there was “a good chance” Rice will leave during the close season, as the midfielder has rejected all efforts to get him to sign a contract extension amid interest from virtually all of England’s top clubs. His contract is set to expire in 2024, although the Hammers have an option to extend that by a further year. Rice became the first West Ham captain to win a European trophy since England’s Bobby Moore lifted the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965, and he has also emulated club great Billy Bonds, who led the Hammers to the FA Cup in 1975 and 1980. “To be even in that conversation [alongside Moore and Bonds] is crazy,” added Rice. “I’ve given my heart playing for this club over the past six years. I’d give anything to help this club win. We’ve not had it easy. We’ve been facing relegation. To win this now, to be in that category, I don’t want to say too much. I’ll get too excited.”
The winner came in the 90th minute, when Jarrod Bowen beat the offside trap and squeezed the ball past goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano and into the net. Bowen’s football journey to a European final started in the fifth tier of English football, after unsuccessful trials at a number of English clubs. He began his career in the National League with Hereford before moving to Hull in 2016 and eventually getting his Premier League chance with West Ham in January 2020. The winger has scored 13 goals in 54 appearances for the Hammers this season. “He was turned down by Aston Villa and Cardiff – you are looking at someone who just kept going,” former West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green told BBC Radio 5 Live. “You go through those moments of being rejected. His run for the goal tonight was just about keep going. He must have made that run 1,000 times in his career – it is a fantastic moment for him.”