Arsenal deliberately antagonise West Ham United fans with Declan Rice post
Arsenal appear to have deliberately tried to antagonise the West Ham fans with their social media post that included Declan Rice.
The North London club tweeted on Wednesday (27 December) a picture of the 24-year-old midfielder in a Gunners shirt ahead of the game against the Hammers on Thursday (28 December).
The England international is sporting a huge grin and pumping his fist in the photo as he prepares to take on the Irons for just the second time since making the £105million move to the Emirates Stadium over the summer.
There are plenty of players Arsenal could have used for the social media post, but they clearly chose Rice to try and up the engagement and get a reaction out of the West Ham fans.
There has been so much talk over the past few weeks after a number of Gunners supporters have suggested that their side robbed the Hammers in the deal that took him to North London.
One fan even set up a GoFundMe page on 6 December to pay an extra £20million for the midfielder as they continue to mock the Irons for the money they received for him.
It feels as though the latest post by the Arsenal media team is just another way to try and anger the East Londoners in the build-up to the game.
While Rice was highly rated before making the move over the summer, it seems like people have only just started to realise how good he really is following his performances this season.
This is something we knew years before he left East London as his leadership in helping West Ham secure three successive campaigns in Europe – alongside the Europa Conference League victory last season – proved just how influential he was for us.
The midfielder looks to be the piece of the jigsaw that was perhaps missing at the Emirates last season as a win over the Hammers will take them back to the top of the Premier League.
It won’t be the first time the Englishman has taken on his former side, though, after he came off the bench in the Irons’ 3-1 victory over the Gunners in the Carabao Cup on 1 November.
Although he received a frosty reception from some of the supporters inside the stadium, the majority of us do wish him well after what he achieved at the London Stadium.
But let’s hope he doesn’t put in a good performance against us on Thursday as we look to pick up a result that will move us back above Manchester United into the top six of the Premier League table.
In other West Ham news, Micah Richards was wowed by what one Hammers star did after footage has emerged.