ARSENAL legend Ian Wright believes they “robbed” West Ham in the Declan Rice transfer deal – and he wants to give them MORE money.
The Gunners forked out a club-record £105m to sign the England international this summer.
GettyIan Wright says Arsenal should give West Ham ‘another £20m’ for Declan Rice[/caption]
GettyThe £105m signing has been superb for the Gunners since his move[/caption]
The 24-year-old Rice was already widely-regarded as one of the Premier League’s top holding midfielders.
And he has enjoyed a brilliant start to life under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates in his first 19 appearances for the club.
Rice’s displays have helped Arsenal to go top of the table as they look to end their two decade wait to be champions.
And ex-striker Wright, who spent the 1998/99 season with West Ham, says he feels “guilty” that the Gunners did not give the Hammers “an extra £20m” for the star.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Wrighty’s House podcast after Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Brentford on Saturday, he said: “It’s the physicality and fluidity of him.
“He looks strong, we just look different with him.
“I love Martin (Odegaard) and he’s our captain and I’m very happy, absolutely delighted with that.
“But when you have a player who is eight or nine out of 10 every week, leading by example with everything that he does… you can’t help but think, ‘That guy is a captain’.”
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Wright then explained that he believes his old employers got Rice on the cheap.
He added: “I’m not being biased or anything, but I was speaking to a couple of West Ham fans recently, and I wind them up all the time.
“I said: ‘Do you know something, I feel like we robbed you, I feel like we should give you an extra £20m. I’m going to give you an extra £20m because it’s making me feel guilty that we’ve only got him for £100m!’”
Rice was released by Chelsea as a teenager but was soon snapped up by West Ham.
After making his Premier League debut in 2017, he went on to make 245 appearances for them and was named their captain last season.
And he went on to lead them to victory in June’s Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina before departing to the Emirates.
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