When Declan Rice pictured himself at Arsenal, he tried to imagine how “unusual” a night like tonight would be. After a decade at West Ham, Rice returns to east London for the first time since his £105m move to the Gunners. He does so as the most expensive English player of all time and a West Ham legend at 24. Rice’s final West Ham appearance made sure of that: by lifting the Europa Conference League, he became just the third West Ham captain in the club’s history to win a major trophy.
The boy who was released by Chelsea aged 14 grew up at West Ham. He found a home and when he left, he did so as the club’s most established England international since Sir Trevor Brooking, their greatest captain since Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds. He left as an outstanding midfielder who had outgrown the London Stadium, who could have walked into and then improved any side in Europe.
