As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
I watched him in the world cup nutty and I honestly thought that he was the weakest player on that england team by far - they have an excellent attack, and have some good defenders, but I would always seem him and the knobhead everton keeper as the weakest players in that england team. Like I said previously, I dont dispute that he is a good player, but for me he isnt anywhere near a 100m player (although I'm not sure any cdm is), and I would have paid 50m tops for him
Have to agree. He looked bog average for England. And he's looked average to goodish mostly for wet sham, with the odd exceptional performance, but he has never looked world class. That is complete fantasy honestly.
Now having said that, I also think that Rice has the potential to kick on and become world class and hopefully, now he's playing with better players at the Arsenal, he will. But at the moment he is not world class.
The thing I am possibly most happy about is he seems intelligent which will prove vital to his development.
I'll never agree he was worth 100million but it's done now and I hope he is massive for us.
Inside Declan Rice’s move to Arsenal: Arteta influence, long-term plan, no transfer request
Jordan Campbell, Roshane Thomas and more (The Athletic)
This time, it truly was all or nothing for Arsenal. No Plan B, no capacity for frugal switches to alternative targets and, therefore, no room for error.
It was Declan Rice or bust.
The West Ham captain was everything to Mikel Arteta this summer. Those inside the club had repeated for months that it could not be overstated how central he was to the manager’s vision.
Without him, Arteta’s plan to take his Arsenal team to the next level simply did not add up. Every other transfer target was inextricably linked to Rice as the centrepiece, the nucleus that would make everything else make sense.
This was the message hammered home to Rice in Arsenal’s subtle courting of the West Ham captain.
Although patience was required in the final weeks of negotiations after two rejected bids preceded Manchester City muscling in at the eleventh hour, Arsenal eventually got their man and the deal with West Ham was finally signed at 5pm on Friday, with Rice signing a five-year contract with the option to extend for a year.
The fee of £100million plus £5 million in potential add-ons is more than they had banked on spending — they had begun the pursuit feeling the final price would be in the £70million to £80million bracket but ended up breaking the Premier League record for a British player, set in 2021, when Manchester City signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. It was a deal they had ideally wanted to do six months earlier, but Arsenal will care little.
They believe they have bought a talent who is incomparable in his position.
And if he is as transformative as they believe he can be, similar to how the marquee additions of Alissonand Virgil van Dijk elevated Jurgen Klopp’s growing Liverpool team in year four of his tenure, the prize money will make back the additional money committed — and then some.
Arsenal had long identified Rice as the crucial missing piece of the jigsaw, but the pursuit really began in earnest in January.
Having consulted Arsenal’s England contingent of Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale for insight into his personality and leadership qualities, it only strengthened Arteta’s desire to make sure Rice would soon be playing his football in Islington, six miles west of West Ham’s Olympic Stadium.
He wanted to make that happen in January after they made him their top target for the window. Arsenal seriously investigated a possible deal that month but it became apparent that was never likely to happen, both financially and because West Ham’s lowly league position made Rice even more indispensable.
West Ham Chairman David Sullivan did not want to lose the club’s talisman during a relegation battle.
Little did he know Rice would go on to lead David Moyes’ side to the Europa League Conference title in May. While Rice always remained the primary target, Arsenal – sensing a January deal was not possible – also turned their attention to Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
After having a £60million bid for Caicedo swiftly rejected and informed that he wasn’t for sale, Arsenal did not take no for an answer. They returned on the penultimate day of the window with a second £70million offer for the Ecuadorian, who had taken to social media to plead with Brighton to sanction the transfer.
Brighton stood firm and offered him a bumper new contract under the mutual understanding that a summer move somewhere, potentially to Arsenal, was all but inevitable.
Arsenal pivoted again, this time to a different type of deep midfielder. While Rice and Caicedo are known for their power and all-rounder attributes, Chelsea midfielder Jorginho is a cerebral player who makes up for his lack of mobility in how he dictates the play.
It was a short-term option as Arteta believed he required something extra in midfield if they were to have the depth to last the pace in the title race.
In the weeks that followed the January window, Arsenal resumed the pursuit of their primary target, Rice.
And The Athletic can reveal it was a recent face-to-face meeting between Arteta, sporting director Edu Gaspar and Rice that convinced the midfielder just how intent they were on securing his signature.
As is now customary in almost all deals, Arteta and Edu made a granularly detailed presentation to Rice explaining the project, the role he had to play and the footage of him which had convinced them he was the man they needed.
They ended their overture by putting the ball in Rice’s court: the train was leaving — was he on board?
Rice’s reps met with several big clubs but no-one was in the same arena as Arsenal when it came to the detail and personalisation of the pitch. The midfielder came out so high on so many different aspects of Arsenal’s recruitment grading system that Arteta almost had a book full of reports on him. It’s why he was so passionate about the signing and that came across to Rice when he was explaining what his No 6 role would entail.
Arsenal were confident coming into the window they had established a good working rapport with their West Ham counterparts.
Last summer West Ham had sent legal letters to clubs to warn against approaches and threatened action if they had proof of tapping up, but this summer there was an acceptance it was time for him to move to the top level.
Personal terms were widely understood not to be a problem, largely thanks to the huge amount of groundwork Edu and director of football operations Richard Garlick did on the player and his family. Rice’s affairs are looked after by his father and brother with the support of a commercial advisor, but this was always going to be a huge deal to navigate.
There was no desire at Arsenal to waste anybody’s time and Arteta was also firm in his desire to strengthen the squad before they headed to the US on their pre-season tour on July 16.
Arsenal duly waited until West Ham had enjoyed their celebrations upon returning home Europa Conference League champions, and until Rice had left the England camp following the Euro 2024 qualifying double-header against Malta and North Macedonia.
But then the situation was felt to be in a healthy enough position to make the first move which, as exclusively revealed by The Athletic, came on June 14 when Arsenal placed an opening offer worth £65million plus £15 million.
That was rejected but Arsenal remained in dialogue with West Ham and the discussions were aided by talks that had taken place between Arsenal executive Tim Lewis and West Ham counterpart Karren Brady at the Premier League AGM in Hampshire earlier that day.
Lewis was heavily involved in club-to-club discussions over fees and payment structures and acted as a go-between to Arsenal’s owners when seeking to push up the next bid. However, Edu and Garlick led the process at Arsenal’s end with the latter heavily involved in player negotiations.
Arsenal took time to weigh up what number they should follow-up with and six days later lodged a club record offer of £75 million + £15 million the following Tuesday (June 20).
Rice led West Ham to the Europa Conference League title (Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)
As anticipated, this was also rejected, but there was an acceptance that Arsenal were getting closer to an overall figure that West Ham would find acceptable.
It felt like a one-horse race at this point, despite Rice’s talent having won admirers for several years.
Manchester United were credited with an interest in him last summer but they were preoccupied with signing Real Madrid’s Casemiro and Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong, the latter of whom opted to stay in Spain.
This summer there was weight to reports that United could offer cash-plus-players for Rice, with Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Anthony Elanga all players who could have been interesting to Moyes as makeweights.
Liverpool chose to steer clear of even meeting Rice’s camp. They were never truly in the running and a source said that was also with Jude Bellingham in mind, as they were in the mix for his signature at the time and didn’t want his camp to be irked. Bellingham went on to sign for Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel was a fan of Rice and was keen on bringing him to Germany but they were aware of how Arsenal had stolen a march on everyone.
The plan had worked in that sense. They had aimed to get a head start on any potential suitors and negate a public auction. But then, on June 25, they lurched into the world of uncertainty they had tried to avoid.
City made sure there was to be no stress-free procession by submitting an offer of £80million plus £10million, which represented a larger guaranteed sum for West Ham.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who had so brutally ended Arsenal’s title bid in April and May, had tried to gazump their London rivals. To compound matters, Arsenal were so far down the road with their Rice plan there was no option to reverse.
The £65million deal for Chelsea’s Kai Havertz was all but complete but the entire tactical remodelling of the midfield had been predicated on the German playing alongside Rice.
Havertz has been earmarked to replace Granit Xhaka in the left No 8 role but he has played most of his football at Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea as a No 10 or in a withdrawn striker role.
It is a bold move but it was considered feasible because Arteta sees Rice as possessing the athleticism and ball-winning ability needed to complement Havertz and Martin Odegaard either side of him.
There was also the further complication that Caicedo was viewed to be irretrievable as a back-up option by this point.
Arsenal burned some bridges with the Brighton hierarchy in January with their persistence and there was a feeling Chelsea had done so much groundwork ahead of this window that he was virtually wrapped up in blue.
Yet, Arsenal checked in with Caicedo’s camp when progress appeared to be slow with West Ham over a fee.
That in itself tells you how nervous Arsenal became over those two days as they deemed the two players to be in a league of their own when it came to the type of midfielder they were looking for.
Any other alternatives would have represented a significant drop from the elite level required for their return to Champions League football for the first time in seven seasons.
So when City officially entered the race, Arsenal were dismayed. In their eyes, the player had signalled the Emirates was his desired destination for some time. Would his head be turned by the lure of the treble winners, replacing their outgoing captain Ilkay Gundogan and playing under Guardiola?
It would certainly have given him food for thought but Arsenal wanted Rice to reiterate his commitment to them.
For that to happen, though, Arsenal now knew they had to get close to West Ham’s valuation.
Arsenal’s decision-making process is more bureaucratic than some others, as names and figures have to go up the chain of command from the scouting system, Arteta, Edu, Garlick and then onto the majority owners, the Kroenke family, before any official move can be signed off.
After that it is then communicated back down the hierarchy in what is designed to be a model with checks and balances but to the outside can be perceived as too leaden to react in the fast-paced environment of the transfer window.
They had certainly started to feel the heat when West Ham quickly turned down both offers, both of which were deemed to be significantly below their valuation and too staggered in terms of the payment plan.
Despite the creeping doubts, however, there was a confidence Arsenal were still the frontrunners.
And so it proved as Arsenal came in on June 27 with an offer that knocked City out of the running. A package of £105million was enough for the conversation to be moved to the final stage of talks on payment terms.
If City were looking for encouragement to match Arsenal and tempt Rice they didn’t receive it, so pulled out of the race.
Arsenal had been forced to go considerably higher to get the deal over the line. Is there a risk associated with buying a young player, with no Champions League experience, for more than £100million? Of course. But to elevate the squad to the next level, it is calculated — and also a coup that a player of Rice’s quality saw them as his natural next step.
City may well be the dominant team having won the treble but there were plenty of reasons why Arsenal made sense to Rice.
While City are seemingly the complete team, an Arsenal move was about the possibility of becoming successful and going on the journey to eventual silverware.
Rice would be joining one of the youngest squads in the major leagues of Europe, a team on an upward trajectory and he would be tasked with playing a key role in leading the transition from challengers to champions.
As only the third West Ham captain to lift a trophy in the club’s history, having taken the armband in 2022 at the age of just 23, he is a character who craves responsibility.
There is a reason his West Ham team-mates kept singing the “ten more years, ten more years Declan Rice” chant after the win against Bournemouth in April, in which he delivered another man of the match performance.
He had given them his word that he would never hand in a transfer request to force a move as he wanted his exit to be handled in a classy way. Even though the staff were aware this was going to be his last season, they didn’t detect a change in his commitment levels.
Instead, after two player meetings following the loss to Tottenham in February which put West Ham in the relegation zone, they saw Rice change his leadership style and try to galvanize the group.
He took it upon himself to lead from the front and he became a lot more vocal around the training ground. He would challenge players if they weren’t training hard enough as he tried to revive the team spirit that had led them to a 7th place finish and the Europa League semi-finals the season before.
Rice did not want to be part of a relegation, even if that would have made his exit easier. He is someone who could have stayed at the club for the rest of his career such is his affection for it — but his talent and ambition means this was never going to happen and so he wanted to leave on a high.
Rice went on a superb run of form in the final three months of the season, with his trademark driving runs and switches of play giving West Ham a better grip of games. It eventually led them to glory in Prague and to Czech Republic right-back Vladimir Coufal claiming Rice’s intervention “saved our season”.
There were delays to his unveiling due to discussions over payment structure of the deal, West Ham confirmed his departure this morning – although their statement failed to mention he was joining Arsenal – with Rice also publishing a farewell letter to fans. Arsenal then confirmed the signing a few hours later.
Arsenal have prevented a summer-long saga by announcing the switch just before they fly to the US for a pre-season tour, and Rice will board the plane with his new team-mates tomorrow.
Their question to Rice at the start of this transfer was whether he was on board. He is now and Arsenal hope that with the 24-year-old behind the wheel in midfield, the next destination is Premier League champions.
I watched him in the world cup nutty and I honestly thought that he was the weakest player on that england team by far - they have an excellent attack, and have some good defenders, but I would always seem him and the knobhead everton keeper as the weakest players in that england team. Like I said previously, I dont dispute that he is a good player, but for me he isnt anywhere near a 100m player (although I'm not sure any cdm is), and I would have paid 50m tops for him
Have to agree. He looked bog average for England. And he's looked average to goodish mostly for wet sham, with the odd exceptional performance, but he has never looked world class. That is complete fantasy honestly.
Now having said that, I also think that Rice has the potential to kick on and become world class and hopefully, now he's playing with better players at the Arsenal, he will. But at the moment he is not world class.
The thing I am possibly most happy about is he seems intelligent which will prove vital to his development.
I'll never agree he was worth 100million but it's done now and I hope he is massive for us.
I look at Rice and question what his best position is - fans are suggesting that he is replacing partey, but for me he isnt the same type of player as partey who is more physical/powerful, where as rice is more about interceptions. I look at him and see him (in last season's system) as more of a xhaka replacement if I'm honest, and no doubt he would be a big upgrade there, but by same token partey for the first half of last season (until last two months really) was immense for me, and I dont see rice doing that same job to that same level. I will be amazed if we sign another defensive midfielder this transfer window, but if I was picking our strongest 11 going into next season, it would have rice alongside partey
Insight worth taking on board for those questioning Rice after 2 preseason appearances.
| Declan Rice on training sessions at Arsenal: “Yes, it's crazy. It's honestly crazy. I'm already seeing football in a completely different way.
“You think you know football growing up and when you play, but when you meet managers like Mikel, you realise you don't really know anything about football.
“There are different styles and different ways of playing that I've never experienced before. Of course, the way I played at West Ham is completely different to the way Mikel plays, so it's going to take some time to adapt.
“But I'm really eager to learn to improve, to ask questions, to do one-to-one training to improve and try and get it as quickly as possible.
“Hopefully once all that starts to click, Arsenal will be amazing. And of course I want to go up a few levels as well, which I know I can. So yeah, it's really important that I adapt.” [@SkySports]
Insight worth taking on board for those questioning Rice after 2 preseason appearances.
| Declan Rice on training sessions at Arsenal: “Yes, it's crazy. It's honestly crazy. I'm already seeing football in a completely different way.
“You think you know football growing up and when you play, but when you meet managers like Mikel, you realise you don't really know anything about football.
“There are different styles and different ways of playing that I've never experienced before. Of course, the way I played at West Ham is completely different to the way Mikel plays, so it's going to take some time to adapt.
“But I'm really eager to learn to improve, to ask questions, to do one-to-one training to improve and try and get it as quickly as possible.
“Hopefully once all that starts to click, Arsenal will be amazing. And of course I want to go up a few levels as well, which I know I can. So yeah, it's really important that I adapt.” [@SkySports]
The thing that screams out at me here, is why spend over 100m on any player and then ask him to play completely differently to what it was that persuaded you to spunk that money out for him in the first place ??
Insight worth taking on board for those questioning Rice after 2 preseason appearances.
| Declan Rice on training sessions at Arsenal: “Yes, it's crazy. It's honestly crazy. I'm already seeing football in a completely different way.
“You think you know football growing up and when you play, but when you meet managers like Mikel, you realise you don't really know anything about football.
“There are different styles and different ways of playing that I've never experienced before. Of course, the way I played at West Ham is completely different to the way Mikel plays, so it's going to take some time to adapt.
“But I'm really eager to learn to improve, to ask questions, to do one-to-one training to improve and try and get it as quickly as possible.
“Hopefully once all that starts to click, Arsenal will be amazing. And of course I want to go up a few levels as well, which I know I can. So yeah, it's really important that I adapt.” [@SkySports]
The thing that screams out at me here, is why spend over 100m on any player and then ask him to play completely differently to what it was that persuaded you to spunk that money out for him in the first place ??
Because we can see the bloke has the ability to adapt, learn and perform to a higher level, playing a more advanced form of football than the basic shite he's played so far in his career!
Insight worth taking on board for those questioning Rice after 2 preseason appearances.
| Declan Rice on training sessions at Arsenal: “Yes, it's crazy. It's honestly crazy. I'm already seeing football in a completely different way.
“You think you know football growing up and when you play, but when you meet managers like Mikel, you realise you don't really know anything about football.
“There are different styles and different ways of playing that I've never experienced before. Of course, the way I played at West Ham is completely different to the way Mikel plays, so it's going to take some time to adapt.
“But I'm really eager to learn to improve, to ask questions, to do one-to-one training to improve and try and get it as quickly as possible.
“Hopefully once all that starts to click, Arsenal will be amazing. And of course I want to go up a few levels as well, which I know I can. So yeah, it's really important that I adapt.” [@SkySports]
The thing that screams out at me here, is why spend over 100m on any player and then ask him to play completely differently to what it was that persuaded you to spunk that money out for him in the first place ??
Because we can see the bloke has the ability to adapt, learn and perform to a higher level, playing a more advanced form of football than the basic shite he's played so far in his career!
I almost posted before Augie, but I thought it best to avoid more of this circuitous to-ing and fro-ing. Sadly, I can no longer stop myself.
My first response, somewhat similar to Augie's, was why buy a bloke that on his own admission, has a lot to learn and improve upon, just to get up to speed with our currernt level, when we were hoping he was going to help move us to the next level?
Your answer is that we think he has the ability to adapt and learn to play at a higher level.
Isn't £105m one hell of a lot to gamble on a 24 year old being able to adapt, learn and improve enough to not only get to our level, but beyond that. He's not a kid.
I'd have thought that £105m would have got us the finished article and certainly a player that's already comfortably at our level.
Then again, maybe he was just saying the perceived "right things" for the interview.
I'm no blind arteta fan, think the havertz signing is madness/self harm, know we need a far better striker than Jesusamd another cm, but there's a couple of posters on here, one in particular, who is negative about everything and using any excuse to criticise everything, preseason games a as a guide ffs...its facking tiresome and sad as the poster (s) have historically been insightful and worth reading.
I'm assuming it's the menopause and will pass in a year or 2!!!
I still like those posters and want their babies however.
I'm no blind arteta fan, think the havertz signing is madness/self harm, know we need a far better striker than Jesusamd another cm, but there's a couple of posters on here, one in particular, who is negative about everything and using any excuse to criticise everything, preseason games a as a guide ffs...its facking tiresome and sad as the poster (s) have historically been insightful and worth reading.
I'm assuming it's the menopause and will pass in a year or 2!!!
I still like those posters and want their babies however.
Edit obg has hacked my account!!!
Oi! Don't Drag Me Into It!
Edit:
It's Official PlayingMantis is a Trouble maker....
Edit2:
Mind you he does have a point some of our longer standing members have been in the menopausal state for fucking years!
I'm no blind arteta fan, think the havertz signing is madness/self harm, know we need a far better striker than Jesusamd another cm, but there's a couple of posters on here, one in particular, who is negative about everything and using any excuse to criticise everything, preseason games a as a guide ffs...its facking tiresome and sad as the poster (s) have historically been insightful and worth reading.
I'm assuming it's the menopause and will pass in a year or 2!!!
I still like those posters and want their babies however.
Debate I'm fine with but pig headed responses trotting out the same opinions regardless I won't waste my time on.
I'll take that as there wasn't a response you could make.
I actually think my last point is probably the accurate one.
Oh I could respond OK. I even started typing it out but then thought why bother. There's only one opinion that matters to you so unless I completely and utterly agree it's a waste of time.
I haven't actually checked but I wouldn't be at all surprised if you've slated Ramsdale on another thread for last night goals.
I'm no blind arteta fan, think the havertz signing is madness/self harm, know we need a far better striker than Jesusamd another cm, but there's a couple of posters on here, one in particular, who is negative about everything and using any excuse to criticise everything, preseason games a as a guide ffs...its facking tiresome and sad as the poster (s) have historically been insightful and worth reading.
I'm assuming it's the menopause and will pass in a year or 2!!!
I still like those posters and want their babies however.
Edit obg has hacked my account!!!
Fuck knows who the other bloke might be??
Errr Flash!
Actually quartz...wish the truth came out I miss his supernatural basement posts, no-one to talk UAPs, ABCs and spooks with.
Tbf I shouldn't really tar u with the same brush, but owhen a thread has new posts i get giddy as s schoolgirl then find its the same stuff repeated often...judge ricey in November a la the havertz thread. (Havertz will be shit in nov still i fear thoigh...)..I agree on rambo..
| Declan Rice on training sessions at Arsenal: “Yes, it's crazy. It's honestly crazy. I'm already seeing football in a completely different way. 
