If he didn’t know already Declan Rice will now be realising he is not loved unconditionally at Arsenal like he was at West Ham.
It is foolish to try and argue Declan Rice didn’t take a step up by leaving West Ham for Arsenal last summer.
But when West Ham’s former captain chose to sign for the Gunners instead of Man City, it did not go down too well with many Hammers fans.
Let’s have it right, Arsenal and West Ham have never shared a particularly fierce rivalry.
A mutual disdain for the other team from north London has ensured that.
Arsenal and West Ham are still London rivals, though. So losing a beloved homegrown captain to the Gunners stung Hammers supporters.
Even if they were well recompensed to the tune of £105m.
Rice made it clear he wanted to go and win the top trophies football has to offer.
Arsenal certainly have a better chance of doing that than the Irons. But there are no guarantees of silverware in north London, as has been proved thus far.
Rice speaks so highly of West Ham when interviewed and refused to celebrate after scoring for Arsenal against West Ham in that 6-0 drubbing in February.
Honeymoon period over as some Arsenal fans turn on Rice
He proudly posted about the club’s anniversary of their Europa Conference League win in the summer – his last major trophy.
The midfielder even donated money to the cause of a cancer stricken young Hammers Academy goalkeeper.
He is still very tight with the likes of Mark Noble and Jarrod Bowen as well.
The honeymoon period for Rice at Arsenal is well and truly over, though.
The majority of Arsenal fans love him.
But many have started to turn on him for his performances this season – even though he’d been playing through the pain of a broken toe.
After a spell out of the team recently some Gunners supporters stated they preferred Mikel Merino in the midfield.
Arsenal legend Martin Keown was even compelled to speak out in defence of Rice this week, insisting claims he was a ‘waste of money’ are ‘slanderous’.
Some would say increased focus and criticism of performances is the price on the ticket when playing for a bigger club.
It has highlighted the biggest thing Rice gave up when he left the London Stadium – an unconditional love from West Ham fans that he’ll never truly get elsewhere.
Now he returns to the club who helped make him the player he is.
And honest Rice doesn’t care about upsetting Arsenal with an emotional West Ham admission.
Honest Rice doesn’t care about upsetting Arsenal with emotional West Ham admission
talkSPORT reports that Rice has reiterated he will ‘never ever celebrate’ scoring against the Hammers.
It has also been noted by West Ham fans that Rice refuses to kiss the Arsenal badge as he used to when Hammers captain.
Ahead of his return, the report quotes comments from the midfielder while making clear his feelings have not changed one bit.
“I know my love for them has never changed; their love for me has never changed,” Rice said.
“It is one of those things where you move on. Obviously I scored a great goal, it was really odd.
“Even speaking about it now, it is weird. A lot of the lads asked me after (his goal in the 6-0 win), ‘How does it feel?’ It was a bittersweet feeling, really odd.
“I always said I would never celebrate against West Ham and I don’t think I ever will. They made me who I am. I spent 10 years there; I owe them a lot.
“I would never ever celebrate; I think that would be really disrespectful. Overall, [it was] a really good day to win and to score, but a bittersweet feeling.”
It’s almost panto season and Rice will probably get a few pantomime boos.
But he will always be loved unconditionally at West Ham and the respect is clearly mutual.
The fact Rice does not care about upsetting Gunners fans with his honest comments and refusal to kiss the Arsenal badge should earn him respect from his old club.
Because plenty of other academy graduates who moved on to rivals cannot say the same.
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