Declan Rice recently signed a lucrative contract with Arsenal, but West Ham United vice-chairwoman Karren Brady believes that the team didn’t want to trade him.
Brady said, “My role was to sell him. We didn’t want to sell him, but he decided he wanted to leave.
“After making that choice, it was my responsibility to negotiate the best price for him so the club could go back in and use every dollar wisely, and I believe we succeeded in doing so.
“When a player doesn’t want to stay, it’s very difficult. I mean, we did everything we could to persuade him to stay. In terms of the contract, we had been speaking to his father for about two years.
We made an effort to assemble the team around him because he is a gentleman, a special player, and a great leader.
In the end, West Ham was able to sign Rice for a total of £105 million, which breaks Arsenal’s previous transfer record.
The Hammers used that money to reinvest in the transfer market, and it appears that they have emerged with a quality team prepared to build on their Europa Conference League victory from the previous campaign.
West Ham struggled in the Premier League in 2022–23 despite their success in Europe, but they have surged into the top four in the very early stages of the current campaign.
Arsenal will, however, also be delighted with the transaction they made.
On Sunday, Rice not only scored the game-winning goal against Manchester United in the 96th minute but also won the official Man of the Match and Player of the Match awards from the Arsenal supporters.
The Community Shield is the midfielder’s first trophy, and he has performed admirably in Arsenal’s unblemished start to the season.
It’s difficult to locate somebody who is dissatisfied with the cost of the transfer despite spending all that money.
