Declan Rice has revealed that Mikel Arteta played an integral role in his decision to join Arsenal ahead of Manchester City and Chelsea.
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Arsenal won the race to sign Rice in the summer transfer window as they agreed a £105 million deal with West Ham.
The Gunners were forced to fend off long-standing interest in Rice from Chelsea and Manchester United, while City submitted a £105m offer to West Ham for the England international.
However, Rice claims the prospect of playing under Arteta was a key factor behind his move to north London.
When asked what convinced him to join Arsenal, Rice told Channel 4: ‘I have to say the manager, Mikel.
‘I think just from the moment that I met him I knew he was the one I wanted to take of the next part of my career.
‘Just the way he spoke, his aurora, the way he sees the game, the way he wants to play football, and I think we’ve seen Arsenal the way they’ve played the last two years, the way they’ve played as a team I really see myself fitting in.
‘So far that decision has paid off. I feel really at home. I’ve always had that gut feeling that Arsenal would be the club from the moment I walked in up until now.’
Asked if he noticed an improvement in the training levels after leaving West Ham, Rice replied: ‘Do you know what, towards the end of my time at West Ham the players we had were unbelievable.
‘We had such good quality in the team. Last summer when we signed [Gianluca] Scamacca, Lucas Paqueta, the training went up another level when they come in.
‘But of course, at Arsenal you see the season they had last year, and you just see the individuals they had, probably more national team players, I would say just the difference is in terms of the way now I’m having to play is much more advanced, much more forward thinking, whereas instead of sitting in a low block, counter-attacking, it’s much more winning the balls higher up the pitch, being more aggressive on that front.
‘I’ve always wanted to reach the top level of the game, I’ve always wanted to get every inch out of myself and at Arsenal that’s where I see myself doing that best, so that’s why I made that decision.’
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