'Dec was released by Chelsea and worried it would happen at West Ham. It's worked out well' (2024)

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not usually hug opposition players — on May 22, 2022, he made an exception.

West Ham United lost 2-1 at home to Arsenal in a hard-fought game and Arteta walked up to Declan Rice. The pair then embraced. It was short and meant little at the time, with Chelsea long considered favourites for the midfielder’s signature. But 13 months on, that exchange looks like it laid the foundations for Arsenal’s successful pursuit of Rice.

The 24-year-old has become Arsenal’s club-record signing in a British-record deal worth £105million ($133m). It was their third offer that ended the bidding war between them and treble-winners Manchester City.

Arteta never spoke publicly about Rice, but he is said to be central to his vision for the team — and the manager has made it his mission to make the move happen.

Elsewhere on The Athletic…

• Inside the Lionel Messi to Inter Miami deal
• Mbappe’s state of play at PSG – a high-stakes game of poker

After Chelsea’s interest waned in the past 12 months given their outlay elsewhere, Bayern Munich started the summer bidding, with City making late moves. But it is Arsenal and Arteta who have shown Rice the most love.

Rice, who has rejected three contract offers, had no desire to sign a new deal at West Ham. Had he accepted the £200,000-a-week offer, he would have been the highest-paid player in the club’s history. But Rice was candid when he made it clear he wanted to win trophies and play regularly in Europe’s most prestigious competition.

“One hundred per cent, I want to play in the Champions League,” he said on England duty. “For the last two or three years, I’ve been saying that. I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end, you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in. I really want to do that.”

West Ham fans will take no pleasure in seeing Rice depart, but this probably represents the best-case scenario for majority shareholder David Sullivan. Even manager David Moyes will be content, provided he is handed the money to allow him to reshape the squad and build on their Europa Conference League win. They have been linked with moves for Joao Palhinha of Fulham, Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes, Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott and Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi.

“We promised Declan he could go,” Sullivan told talkSPORT. “He set his heart on going. You can’t ask for a man who has committed more to us this season. In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement — or several replacements. It’s not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000 per week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It’s cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go.”

Despite Rice’s ambitions, it was always his intention to leave West Ham on amicable terms. He gave the club his word that he would not hand in a transfer request to force an exit.

If anything, speculation over his long-term future fuelled him to leave in the best way possible. He followed in the footsteps of Billy Bonds and Bobby Moore by becoming the third captain to lift a trophy in the club’s 128-year history. Rice has been criticised on social media by some sections of the fanbase for leaving, but he will be fondly remembered for his special night in Prague and for helping the club avoid relegation. It is a move he deserves and he will thrive under the tutelage of Arteta.

Staff behind the scenes at West Ham did not detect a change in Rice’s commitment levels in the past 12 months. He was a key factor in galvanising the group when their league position was precarious. He became more vocal around the training ground and would challenge his team-mates if they were not training hard enough at Rush Green. When Moyes needed Rice to be a leader on and off the field, he stepped up. It is no surprise right-back Vladimir Coufal praised the midfielder for “saving our season”.

Rice became West Ham’s Mr Dependable after making his first-team debut against Burnley in 2017. He was rarely injured and made 245 appearances in all competitions, scoring 15 goals.

But the journey to becoming a £105million player has not been easy and is a far cry from his release by Chelsea at 14.

Even at Chelsea, he was desperate to impress in every game he played. “I remember when it was staff vs students,” says Chris Rhodes, headteacher at Grey Court School in south west London. “Declan wanted to play in it so badly and I said he couldn’t because he’s just too valuable. If he got injured, we would’ve been sued for millions.

“But Declan kept begging to play and that confirmed for me that he lives and breathes football. The staff were beating the students 4-0 and I let him play the last 10 minutes, then he went and scored a brilliant goal. No one wanted to tackle him, though!

“Although he played forChelsea’s academy, Declan still desperately wanted to play for the school and that makes me so proud. He’s faced rejection and adversity, but he always had the inner belief that he was good enough.”

Despite interest from Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur, he was persuaded to join West Ham by the former head of academy recruitment David Hunt.

The move from west to east London could not have worked out better for both club and player after a difficult start.

He was 15 when he moved out of the family home in Kingston, west London, to live in the club’s accommodation in Romford, Essex. The midfielder has spoken about the challenges he faced while being away from family. He suffered from homesickness and would often plead with his parents, Sean and Stephanie, to pick him up. Hunt, Tony Carr, the ex-academy director, and then-under-18s academy coaches Liam Manning, Steve Potts and Mark Phillips played important roles in helping Rice settle.

But perhaps none more so than Dennis Lepine, the mini-bus driver. He was a father figure for Rice and took the young midfielder under his wing. Lepine passed away in June 2020, with Rice paying a glowing tribute.

Dennis Lepine, a man that bled claret & blue. A man that treated me like one of his sons. A man that no one had a bad word to say about was sadly taken from us this morning. A sad day not only for his family, but for me & @WestHam. You’ll be missed Den, RIP. Love you mate. ❤️🙏⚒ pic.twitter.com/hSGU9meihI

— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) June 4, 2020

Although Rice has developed into one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, his path to the first team and one of Gareth Southgate’s key players for England has not been smooth.

Reece Oxford was widely considered the outstanding talent at West Ham, announcing himself on the scene as a 16-year-old with a starring role as West Ham won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in August 2015, with other up-and-coming prospects also receiving professional deals before Rice. Having suffered rejection at Chelsea, the midfielder was concerned he was going to be released for a second time.

“I remember having a conversation with him after dinner,” says former West Ham trainee Lewis Page, who is now at Gillingham in League Two. “Dec wasn’t sure if he was going to get a scholarship with West Ham.

“He got released by Chelsea and he was worried it was going to happen again. I was always confident he was going to get one, but at the time the club weren’t sure what was Dec’s best position. Reece was the main talent at centre-back and I’m not sure if the club thought Dec was good enough to play in midfield. You had Josh Cullen and Ben Marlow who were ahead of him. But West Ham took the chance and it’s paid off ever since.”

On May 2, 2015, Rice, Jake Eggleton, Jahmal Hector-Ingram and Anthony Scully signed their scholarship contracts at Upton Park at half-time during the league fixture against Burnley. Seven months later, Rice signed his first professional contract with the club.

“At West Ham, I was the last person to be offered a scholarship,” Rice said. “I remember an under-18s match against Fulham. I was 16 and had to prove myself. Everyone else already had their scholarship. It was probably one of my best games. Knowing that every day I’d have to fight has made me into the person I am today.”

Terry Westley, West Ham’s former academy director, believes the England international will thrive under Arteta. Westley was Rice’s manager in the under-23s and has followed his progress closely since.

“Declan is ready for Arsenal,” says Westley. “He’s in his prime and he could be there for ten years. People think £105m is a lot but as far as I’m concerned, it’s value for money.

“He’s the No 1 option in midfield for England and Arsenal are getting a player who will improve their squad. His injury record is outstanding considering the number of games he’s played. Arsenal have a lot of young leaders and Declan will certainly add to that. By bringing in players like Declan, Arsenal will hope to reach the next level and challenge Manchester City again for the title.

“I’m delighted for Declan. He’s a great lad and, after what he’s achieved at West Ham, he deserves this.”

Cullen, the Burnley midfielder, believes Rice’s mindset has been a huge factor behind him proving people wrong. After all, he has been vindicated in his decision to switch international allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, for whom he won three caps, to England in 2019. He has proved he is not afraid of making big decisions.

“One of his biggest attributes is his mentality,” Cullen says. “If you go to any academy in the country you will see lots of talented players — but what separates players like Dec from the others is they have that reliance and strong mentality to push through hard times.

“I remember playing alongside Dec in his first under-23s game. This game always stands out to me because we played Brighton & Hove Albion at The Amex. Dec played as a centre-back that game and he was confident. He was probably 16 or 17 and he was brilliant. He showed his leadership that day, it was a new environment for him, yet he wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion or coach players in front of him.

“It was a strange one with Dec because at the time he wasn’t the standout player, but you could see the quality he had. It was just a case of his body developing. I remember dropping him home at digs once. His age group had been offered scholarships and a few boys were offered professional deals, but Dec had only been offered a scholarship and he was a bit frustrated and down, which is natural. I told him not to worry about it because you have years to work hard and get what he deserves. Look at him now.”

Rice, who has been earmarked as a future England captain, was considered a role model for academy prospects at West Ham. He frequently gave advice and would go out of his way to watch the under-21s matches at Rush Green.

In April, he attended the FA Youth Cup between Arsenal and West Ham at the Emirates. After seeing the youngsters seal an impressive 5-1 win, Rice congratulated and celebrated with the under-18s in the changing room.

At Arsenal, Reuell Walters is a highly rated defender, AmarioCozier-Duberry is a young exciting winger and Ethan Nwaneri, who became the youngest player in Premier League history at 15 years and 181 days when he came on as a substitute against Brentford in September, is regarded among the country’s most promising talents. The trio will now be able to lean on Rice for advice.

Armstrong Okoflex, 21, who was recently released by West Ham, explains how Rice was there for him during low moments.

“There have been loads of times when Rice has helped me,” he says. “The last couple of months at West Ham, I spoke to him and he said, ‘Everyone knows what you can do. Just make sure you don’t give them a reason to say something about you and not play you’.

“Dec was a great role model for a lot of us. It’s the fact he came to me when he didn’t have to. It was after an under-23s game and I didn’t play. I was annoyed, we spoke after and it’s one of those moments when you realise how much of a good guy he is.”

Off the pitch, Rice’s profile has grown, too — replacing Jack Grealish as Britain’s most expensive player will only increase his marketability further.

In April 2022, he teamed up with high-end fashion brand Prada to feature on the cover of Circle Zero Eight magazine before starring in Sports Direct’s Christmas advert alongside Mason Mount, Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona. He also has a boot deal with Adidas and a commercial deal with Muller, the dairy food company.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Declan Rice (@declanrice)

He will surely have the same profile soon that his England team-mates have. Raheem Sterling, of Chelsea, is the face of male grooming brand Gillette Labs; Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham featured alongside Lionel Messi and Stormzy in a star-studded World Cup advert for Adidas; Manchester City winger Grealish has a deal with Italian designer Gucci, and Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is the face of sports brand Under Armour.

“Grealish has had loads of interest from brands since joining Man City and I expect that to happen to Declan Rice now,” says Adrian Wright, the ex-marketing and sales director at West Bromwich Albion.

“He’s probably the polar opposite of Grealish because he doesn’t drink. Rice is pretty much a model student. He’s going to command interest and Muller have done something fairly low-level with him, but you’re going to see most brands make their move on Rice now he is the British record signing. Brands move quickly and they know there’s a short window of opportunity to launch an association with a transfer.

“I can see Rice being the face of a brand, similar to his England peers. He will break into that elite space and will automatically increase appeal to a younger audience for a brand. He will receive plenty of offers over the next few days.”

Not bad for the boy who was once released by Chelsea.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)