Wish him luck as you wave him goodbye – but Declan Rice is desperate to go out in a blaze of glory.
If the Europa Conference League final is his last game in a West Ham shirt – and there are too many vultures circling for the Hammers to fend them off with a carpet-beater – the £100 million England midfielder has already written the script. “It's a chance to go out and create a legacy where every single player, the manager, everyone involved, will be remembered forever,” said Rice.
A first trophy in 43 years, and the first in Europe since Bobby Moore lifted the Cup Winners Cup back in 1965, would be the most spectacular exit by an Eastenders legend since Danny Dyer went for a swim at Christmas.
Rice, blessed with mechanical fitness and enviable passing range, will run himself into the ground against Fiorentina in the 20,000-capacity Eden Arena here to pursue his Hollywood happy ending. There are no guarantees this tale of Florence and the machine will follow the Hammers captain's screenplay.
It's a genuine 50-50 call, and in the Czech capital, one man's jellied eels is another man's knedliky (the national pork dish). But Rice – the best player on the pitch in the Euro 2020 final against Italy until Three Lions coach Gareth Southgate 's baffling decision to hook him - is not playing the occasion down.
He said: “I think it would be my biggest achievement I’ve had in football so far - 100 per cent – and that would be the case for a lot of us.
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“To win a trophy like this, a European trophy, with West Ham, I think it puts every player at a higher status within the club iand, in terms of with the fans, how you’ll be remembered.
“I think it would just mean everything, to be honest. Just to lift that trophy, especially to be with the lads as well – our group of boys are such good people.
“To see them laughing and smiling and singing after the semi-final game was incredible - it’s definitely got the fire in our belly to have those kinds of nights again, and we’ve got the chance to do that.
“There are loads of things that add to it, but for me it’s just about wanting to see the lads smiling again and wanting to lift the trophy, wanting to see our families after with the trophy, just everything that we’ve got 90 minutes to do. It’s in our hands, so we’re going to push to do that.”
Rice, named Hammer of the Season for his consistency while most of his team-mates oscillated between a Premier League relegation battle and chasing glory in Europe, will be a hard act to follow in rhyming slang heartlands.
Bayern Munich and Arsenal, front-runners in the scramble for his signature, have more irons in the fire than a blacksmith. But Rice, 24, has never gone missing and, if he leaves this summer, he will go with the fans' blessing – especially if he follows Moore and Billy Bonds into Cockney legend as the only West Ham skippers to lift a trophy.
He told the club website: “Every time I put on the shirt, I know how big it is. This will be the biggest match that the club has had in so long, so it’s going to be an honour to be part of it. Hopefully we can create some history on the night for the fans to cheer about.”
Rice believes last season's gut-wrenching Europa League semi-final defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt will be crucial motivation, adding: “The feeling of that defeat lives with you. The way the two legs went – conceding in the first minute at home, coming back, but then them scoring again, then going to their place and having a man sent off...it was just how it went for the whole tie.
“This year, going into the semi-final, we just looked at it and thought, ‘What an opportunity.’ We’ve already created history by getting to the final, but now there’s a chance to go and create a legacy where every single player, the manager, everyone involved will be remembered forever.
“I think it’s a unique opportunity that we’ve got, that we really want to take.”
