Fornals and Joe Hart send messages to Declan Rice after Arsenal win v Real Madrid
West Ham’s former star Declan Rice was the hero as Arsenal demolished Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The former Hammers captain scored two stunning free-kicks at the Emirates Stadium (8 April) to help the Gunners to a 3-0 win over the Spanish giants.
The result puts Mikel Arteta‘s side in pole position to secure a place in the semi-finals of the competition if they can hold onto their advantage in the return leg next week.
Rice delivered a brilliant performance, his strikes have lit up social media and he is the main talking point from the clash.
Fornals sends Rice message as Arsenal hammer Madrid
Rice’s performance has taken the wider football world by storm as ex-Irons ace almost single-handedly downed the side containing the likes of Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe.
The ex-Hammers star took to Instagram after the contest to post an image of his celebration following one of his set-piece strikes.
His former teammate at the London Stadium, Pablo Fornals, reacted to the post by sending Rice a message, saying: “Just wow brother” with the the flames emoji.
Ex-England goalkeeper Joe Hart also commented on the post, saying: “Unreal.”
West Ham miss Rice’s impact
Rice left the Hammers for a British record fee of £105million in 2023 and he has gone from strength to strength in a more advanced role for the Gunners.
The Irons have struggled desperately to replace him and Graham Potter is currently looking for midfield reinforcements as his current options are not good enough.
| Premier League | Played | GD | Points |
| 15. Everton | 31 | -5 | 35 |
| 16. West Ham | 31 | -17 | 35 |
| 17. Wolves | 31 | -16 | 32 |
While the Gunners are fighting for the biggest honours, the East London outfit have been left sitting 16th in the Premier League and they could do with a leader and a player like Rice.
The 26-year-old often filled in at centre-back for the Irons or played in a deeper role but his impact was still significant despite not being allowed to thrive further forward.
The Hammers will not regret in the same in terms of the massive fee that they secured and its impact on their finances but they may very well regret not sorting a genuine replacement before they allowed him to leave.