Rice breaks silence on heated incident with Arsenal team-mate, footage is dug up

Latest Arsenal news as Declan Rice completes his club-record transfer from West Ham to reunite with former academy teammate Eddie Nketiah

Arsenal have completed the club-record signing of England midfielder Declan Rice following weeks of negotiations. The Gunners will pay a guaranteed £100million with a potential for £5million in add-ons.

"I've been looking at Arsenal over the last couple of seasons and the trajectory they've been going on," the Gunners star said. "Not last season but the season before, they finished fifth but you could see the style of play Mikel was implementing. Last season was an outstanding season, blowing pretty much every team out of the water with the exception of Man City.

"With Mikel and how he works, the squad, how young everyone is, the energy around the club and also the challenge of getting Arsenal back to where they belong, that means a lot to me. I know the fans really want that. For me as a player, I’ve come here really hungry to have more success and to spend my best years at this great club."

Amid all the excitement of Rice's arrival, many supporters may have noticed the midfielder's comments on his relationship with Eddie Nketiah. The pair were teammates as kid when they were part of the academy at Chelsea. "When we were at Chelsea we used to go on long aways and used to travel on the coach," Rice previously revealed.

"Eddie used to bring a massive bowl, like a big jollof rice to feed the whole team. The lads used to be buzzing over it."

Despite their relationship, Rice and Nketiah were involved in an angry exchange in May 2022 in the Gunners' 2-1 win over West Ham. With Arteta's side attempting to run down the clock in the final minutes, Nketiah angered Aaron Cresswell after standing directly in front of his free-kick.

A melee eventually played out between both sets of players before Rice decided to confront Nketiah. The 24-year-old seemed to question Nketiah's time-wasting in a face-to-face altercation.

A year later, Rice has revealed his excitement at reuniting with the Hale Ender. "I played with Eddie from under-nines to under-14s. We were both released on the same day and it’s crazy where football takes you, your journey," he told the Arsenal website. "He’s made it through the ranks at Arsenal, I made it through the ranks at West Ham. Now we get to link back up again.

"I’ve always loved Eddie, even though we had that little altercation on the pitch before! I’ve always loved him and been close to his family. His dad is a top, top guy who used to come on all the tours with us as kids, so I’m really looking forward to seeing Eddie again and of course the other boys."