Ainsley Maitland-Niles has told Declan Rice that he ‘deserves’ his transfer to Arsenal following his club-record move from West Ham United.
The Arsenal fans had to wait a while, but Declan Rice is now their player after £105 million was put on the table for his signature, as reported by Sky Sports.
Whilst Rice enters the door, the man who has just left, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, has just ended his long stay with the club after his contract expired and he had nothing but kind words to say about the former Hammers captain on Instagram.
Whilst Maitland-Niles, who was on-loan at Southampton last season, is no longer associated with Arsenal, it’s pretty obvious that he will still follow how his former club fair in their quest to win the Premier League title again.
The Hale-End academy product won the FA Cup during his time at the Emirates, but it’s becoming champions of England which the fans crave the most.
Nonetheless, this was the following message Maitland-Niles sent to Rice after his move was confirmed.
‘All the best brother, you deserve it,” said Maitland-Niles.
Pressure on Rice
Given the noise around his transfer, the fee and the fact that Mikel Arteta is tasked with winning the Premier League title, then there is a lot of pressure on Rice’s shoulders before he can even get started – Mason Mount recently labelled him as ‘special’ on Instagram following his move.
Usually, whether it’s for West Ham or England, he has proven to be a consistent performer and someone who operates in a calm manner in the middle of the park.
That calm nature is going to be needed next season because, whenever he puts a foot wrong, there will be extra noise and verbal blows that will be thrown his way and he has to be a tough cookie to take it all in.
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