Declan Rice has send a touching farewell to West Ham supporters as his deal to Arsenal have finally confirmed by the club.
The England midfielder will become Arsenal’s third major signing this summer after Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
Mikel Arteta identified the 24-year-old as his No.1 summer target and after lengthy,
painstaking negotiations the Arsenal boss has finally landed his man, but only after a mammoth £105million fee was agreed.
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A cash injection of that magnitude for the Hammers will help soften the blow of losing their influential skipper and provide some
comfort to Rice, who confessed the decision to leave the club at which he has spent the entirety of his professional career was a difficult one.
Rice also attracted interest from Manchester City but he only had eyes for Arsenal, whose return to the Champions League after a six-year absence proved a
huge motivating factor behind his decision to move across the capital.
Rice:
”My last thank-you must go to you, the supporters’
‘The loyal, passionate, devoted, at times hilarious, and always honest Hammers, who are massive everywhere you go…!
‘You have taken me into your hearts as one of your own from day one.
Even when it was just a handful of fans at the Under-18 or Under-23 games, I felt that love, and it has just grown stronger as the years have passed.
‘Playing in front of you has been an honour, we have had such great times together, and you all mean so much to me.
‘I want you to know how tough a decision it has been for me to leave an environment that I have loved and cherished so much.
Ultimately, though, it has only ever been about my ambition to play at the very highest level of the game.
‘Playing on the opposite team to West Ham for the first time will be an unusual experience.
I’m not sure yet exactly how I will feel, but I also know you will all understand and respect that my professional loyalties have to now lie with my new Club.
I will always give 100% every single time I pull on the shirt – because that is how I have been brought up at West Ham, and I’m sure you wouldn’t expect anything else.
‘However, that does not mean my love and respect for you all has been diminished in any way.
This Club and its supporters will always be in my heart, and forever a part of who I am.’
