Declan Rice: Arsenal Star Admits Pressure Over £100M Transfer from West Ham

• Arsenal broke the British transfer record fee when they signed Declan Rice
• The Gunners paid £105 million for the England international midfielder
• Rice has admitted he feels the pressure of being signed for such a huge fee

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has made an honest admission about his transfer fee from East London to North London in the summer.

The Gunners broke the British transfer record by signing Rice for £105 million from West Ham, a record that was eclipsed by Chelsea, who paid £115 million for Moises Caicedo weeks later.

The 24-year-old settled seamlessly into Mikel Arteta's midfield, filling multiple roles, including number 6 and left-sided number 8 previously occupied by Granit Xhaka.

He has already scored against two big teams, in the 3-1 win over Manchester United and the 2-2 draw against his former club Chelsea.

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Rice admits price tag pressure

On international duty with England, Rice opened up on the pressure of transferring for such a huge fee and wants to repay the club, as quoted by Mirror UK.

“When the transfer was going through, I was very nervous because of the price tag. It’s natural to think about that. You’re a human being bought for £105m, it doesn’t feel very normal. But that was because of what I’d done at West Ham, what they valued me at,” he said.

‌“It’s £100m, it’s a lot of money, I could understand the pressure that comes with it… I want to re-pay the club back straight away, they have invested a lot of money in me, I need to prove why I can go there and change things.”

After Chelsea signed Caicedo for £115mil, Rice remained the most expensive British player, surpassing the £100mil Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021, per The Athletic.

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‌“I can see why Jack struggled, maybe at the start - mentally. He was a £100m footballer, but as he wasn’t playing as much, it was probably a bit different for him. Now he's flying, and it’s the same for me,” he added.

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Rice sets Arsenal record

Sports Brief reported on Rice setting a Premier League record for Arsenal with his long-range strike to start the comeback in the 2-2 draw against rivals Chelsea.

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gave the ball away, and Rice fired immediately. The shot, clocked at a distance of 36.6 metres, is the longest by an Arsenal player since records began in the 2006/07 season.

Arsenal unveiled Rice with viral song

Sports Brief reported that Arsenal unveiled Rice with Odumodublvck's song, named after their new star "Declan Rice."

The Nigerian artiste released the song months ago and enjoyed massive airwaves; he linked up with the former Chelsea academy star in London weeks ago.