Declan Rice and Gooners dumped out of Europe
Maybe Declan Rice should have stayed at West Ham? Poor old Dec has departed The London Stadium with a European winners medal around his neck but may now be facing a trophyless season following his £105 million move to Arsenal.
I’m joking, of course, well, half-joking at least. I’m sure the former Hammers captain is delighted with his move to North London. Unfortunately for the Gunners, they have been knocked out of the Champions League by a Harry Kane-led Bayern Munich – ouch!
This will be new territory for Rice, who is used to reaching the semi-finals of European football at the very least at West Ham. He could, of course, win the Premier League title for the first time, with Arsenal poised in second place, having lost 2-0 to Aston Villa last weekend.
Out of Europe: Declan Rice can at least console himself with the fact that he is already a European champion
Rice is a fine player who I’m sure will have a glittering career. He’s already captained England and I’m sure will wear the armband at Arsenal one day. It was a bad night for Rice and Arsenal, but it was possibly a worse night for English football in general.
The Gunners’ defeat to Tomas Tuchel’s men, as well as Manchester City’s loss on penalties to Real Madrid, is bad news for the Premier League. The UEFA coefficient standings mean it’s highly unlikely England will be offered an additional European place next season unless West Ham and Liverpool can turn around deficits in their Europa League quarter-finals.