Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has spoken out about how Declan Rice has settled in to life at the club.
Arsenal spent a club-record £105 million to sign Declan Rice from West Ham United this summer. The midfielder truly established himself at the Emirates Stadium with a stoppage time match-winning goal against Manchester United on Sunday.
The strike marked his first goal for the Gunners, and it sent the home crowd into raptures. It also capped off a man of the match performance from the 43-cap England international.
The noise at the Emirates Stadium grew even more deafening when Gabriel Jesus broke free of the Red Devlis’ defence in the 11th minute of added time to add a third goal.
After the full-time whistle, the stadium was filled with the sound of the Vanilla Ice hit ‘Ice, Ice Baby’.
The crowd serenaded Rice to the tune, singing ‘Rice, Rice Baby,’ as the 24-year-old himself drank in the atmosphere.
Mikel Arteta will have been delighted to see his marquee signing establish a connection with the fans so quickly, after making such a crucial contribution to the match on the pitch.
Rice may well have been feeling some pressure following his big money move to the north London club. However, the Gunners’ No.1, Aaron Ramsdale, said after the match that “I’ve just been asked in a different interview if it’ll take the pressure off his shoulders, but I’m not too sure if he feels any pressure,” as quoted by the club’s official website.
The shot-stopper continued, “it’s great that he’s got a goal so early on, we want him to score more, we want him to be in a position to shoot and score…you can see what he does going backwards. So, again four games into his Arsenal career, if he has more time with us, we’ll have more time with him, and you’ll see a completely different Declan Rice from now until the end of the season.”
Ramsdale also gave his verdict on the celebrations that took place and the chant that could be heard at the end of the match. The atmosphere in the stadium had been raucous throughout the game, and reached a fever pitch by the time Arsenal’s 3-1 win was sealed.
He said, “the celebrations were crazy, and we just sung Rice Rice Baby. Honestly, it was a strange afternoon. I never thought I’d hear Rice Rice Baby in a football stadium with a bunch of 30 people ranging from 40-year-olds to 18-year-olds dancing around, but that’s football and that’s what we love.”
The celebrations were certainly merited. Rice, and the rest of Arteta’s squad, know that there is more to come from this Arsenal group, but they have still managed to take ten points from their first four Premier League matches.
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