Declan Rice spoke with Josh Kroenke after Arsenal missed out on the Premier League title (Image: TNT Sports)
After Sunday’s Premier League final, Declan Rice, an Arsenal midfielder, spoke with co-chair Josh Kroenke about his first year at the team.
Declan Rice acknowledged in a Sunday conversation with co-chair Josh Kroenke that life at Arsenal has been “everything he expected.”
After moving to the Emirates from West Ham for £105 million in the summer, Rice, 25, became the club’s record signing for the Gunners and was a key member of the team’s Premier League title challenge.
On the last day of the season, Mikel Arteta’s team ultimately lost to Manchester City, as the defending champions defeated Rice’s former team 3-1 at the Etihad.
Rice, however, stressed there was still plenty more to come from him after revealing that he had been thinking back on a fantastic rookie season with Kroenke rather than wallowing in that disappointment.
“I was just talking to Josh Kroenke on the pitch then,” he said to NBC Sports. I simply remarked, “It’s been everything I expected,” because the club’s class levels are outstanding throughout. how everything is managed. how every employee is. How the club is managed by the manager. Everything about this place is incredible.
“I anticipated that people would come with expectations. Arsenal is back in the Champions League, but they haven’t won the Premier League in 20 years. I’ve made an effort to take things game-by-game and not put too much pressure on myself. Games are how you gain confidence in football, and as the season progressed, we gained more and more.
“My first season has exceeded my expectations, and there is still a lot more to come from me.”
Kroenke was present for Arsenal’s thrilling 2-1 victory over Everton in the season finale.
Even though it wasn’t enough to end the Gunners’ 20-year title drought, in a pre-game address to supporters, Kroenke promised that the team would keep growing no matter what happened on Sunday.
“We are obviously proud of the progress we have made, but let me be clear that nobody at the club will stand still,” he wrote. Regardless of how today ends, we’re all working in the background to keep moving forward, always forward.
“We are focused on writing some exciting new stories & chapters that build on the history of Arsenal Football Club. We have a lot we want to accomplish, both at home and in Europe.”
