Declan Rice departs West Ham United

Lukerz

Ex - Declan Rice will be formally announced as an Arsenal player today by both clubs.

Hamstew

He's gone
https://www.whufc.com/news/west-ham-united-club-statement

alderz

I don’t really want to talk about it at all tbh

Hamstew

Let's close the thread today

alderz

I’ll close it at 10

Lukerz

Edited title - I suggest we give people time to comment & close it. 😂

Lukerz

The worst bit will be when Arsenal announce it…

Hamstew

So I've been dreading telling my 10 year old as his is his idol. He knew he was likely to be going but we haven't spoken about it much since.
Just went and told him the news and his response was "what do you mean I thought he left us 2 weeks ago"

ASLEFshrugged

Good luck to him (except when Arsenal play us)

Lukerz

Hamstew said:

So I've been dreading telling my 10 year old as his is his idol. He knew he was likely to be going but we haven't spoken about it much since.
Just went and told him the news and his response was "what do you mean I thought he left us 2 weeks ago"

A perfect summary of the entire West Ham fan base

Slacker

I got something in my eye when reading his goodbye message.😥

Lukerz

Club has played a blinder on this:

Signed him for nothing
Have got 10 years of service out of him
Hasn’t been relegated in that time
Qualified for Europe for 3 of those 10 years
Won a major European trophy in that time
Got 250 odd appearances out of him
Sold him for £100m

Well done to the club & manager. It hurts but not sure the club could have done any more here.

Lukerz

Personally, I thought the open letter was going to hit harder than that. It felt a little insincere, although I have no doubt how highly he thinks of the club.

He wants to be the best he can be. Fair play. We move on.

BubblesNeverDies

That photo just looks so wrong. I fully understand why he's left, but I can't find it in me to wish him good luck, in fact I hope Arsenal fall short in all and any competition and he comes to realise what he's left behind. I don't think he'll ever get the love from the Gooners that he got from us.
#bitterorwhat

Hamstew

If Arsenal don't reach the heights that there fans think they are entitled to next season it will be really interesting/funny to see how they react to the situation.

ASLEFshrugged

BubblesNeverDies said:

That photo just looks so wrong.

Maybe because its photoshopped

"Great to have you with us!" on the badge is a bit of a giveaway

alderz

Slacker said:

I got something in my eye when reading his goodbye message.😥

Honestly, it just made me feel betrayed, and I wasn’t expecting to feel like that. We’ve all known it’s coming for ages, I’ve been ok with it being Arsenal, but now I don’t feel the same. I feel hurt by it.

BubblesNeverDies

ASLEFshrugged said:

BubblesNeverDies said:

That photo just looks so wrong.

Maybe because its photoshopped

"Great to have you with us!" on the badge is a bit of a giveaway

I was aware that it was probably photoshopped, my point being that he looks so wrong in anything other than a West Ham shirt (and England of course before someone pipes up with that).

Hamstew

alderz said:

Slacker said:

I got something in my eye when reading his goodbye message.😥

Honestly, it just made me feel betrayed, and I wasn’t expecting to feel like that. We’ve all known it’s coming for ages, I’ve been ok with it being Arsenal, but now I don’t feel the same. I feel hurt by it.

I know what you mean. The worst part is that I/many will have actually defended the guy from Arsenal fans in the past.

buffybegood

Tbh, it all reached a point where now I'm just glad it's all finalised. Towards the end of the 2021/2 season I was sure he was going to leave last summer, and so this last season has been a bit of a bonus really. We got a great price for him, and great payment terms too, and I really don't get the animosity a lot (on KUMB maybe more than here) seem to feel towards him because he chose Arsenal.

Let's just hope we use the funds well, as we should be able to bring enough good players in to make us a better team for losing him.

OldCastleSwift

"To have followed Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds, becoming only the third captain in the Club’s history to lift a major trophy, is something that means so much to me"




In all seriousness though, his statement just left me feeling a bit cold. By all accounts he wanted to go last summer and has been talking to Arsenal since January so I find his words a bit insincere, to be honest. Others won't, and that's obviously fine, but he wants out of the family and as far as I'm concerned he's out of it.

He's an Arsenal player now. I won't wish him good luck in the same way that I won't wish Jurrien Timber good luck.

Just glad it's all over. Time to move on.

Lukerz

Nicely timed before we play Perth & can focus on the current crop of Hammers.

jay_in_cpt

Thanks Dec for all you did, but now you are history, like Moyes said “ no player is bigger than the team “ 👋

mike

jay_in_cpt said:

Thanks Dec for all you did, but now you are history, like Moyes said “ no player is bigger than the team “ 👋

David Moyes “West Ham United is a huge Club and, as history shows, no player is ever bigger than the Club".
Couldn't have put it better myself.

EXETERHAMMER

I will still support him for England.

Yeoldhammer

Good luck to him, will be rooting for him playing for England but hope his Arsenal career dive bombs.

OldCastleSwift

mike said:

jay_in_cpt said:

Thanks Dec for all you did, but now you are history, like Moyes said “ no player is bigger than the team “ 👋

David Moyes “West Ham United is a huge Club and, as history shows, no player is ever bigger than the Club".
Couldn't have put it better myself.

I liked this from Moyes. Not often I say that.

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes

I feel hurt that he’s gone to Arsenal. I don’t believe they will be title winners and that leaves me feeling a bit like he’s jumped at the first big club to come in for him.

I could have understood Chelsea, Liverpool, City, Madrid, Munich, PSG, Barcelona or Man United, but I don’t get Arsenal. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like Arsenal have just had their best chance of winning the league and they won’t be there again.

OldCastleSwift

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes said:

I feel hurt that he’s gone to Arsenal. I don’t believe they will be title winners and that leaves me feeling a bit like he’s jumped at the first big club to come in for him.

I could have understood Chelsea, Liverpool, City, Madrid, Munich, PSG, Barcelona or Man United, but I don’t get Arsenal. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like Arsenal have just had their best chance of winning the league and they won’t be there again.

I think they'll struggle, to be honest. You wouldn't expect Liverpool and Chelsea to have two poor seasons on the bounce, and Newcastle are firmly in the mix for top four now. There's a very real chance he'll have just one season of CL football at Arsenal.

Lukerz

Arsenal are still a huge club. The stadium, training ground, some of the football they played last year was scintillating. Finished 2nd, in the Champions League. They have lots of history, albeit a lack of recent success beyond the FA Cup.