Declan Rice

Declan Rice (born 14 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and the England national team.

He is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.

Declan Rice was born on 14 January 1999 in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, where he was raised.

His paternal grandparents were from Douglas, County Cork, in Ireland.

He joined the academy of Chelsea in 2006, as a seven-year-old.

In 2013, after his release at age 14, he joined the academy of West Ham United after a trial period in the spring.

West Ham United Academy coach Trevor Bumstead stated it was Rice's determination and persistence that helped him break through the ranks at West Ham.

On 16 December 2015, two years after joining West Ham United at youth level, Rice signed his first professional contract with the club.

Rice won the Premier League Cup in 2016 with the under-21s and the Premier League 2 Division 2 in 2020 with the under-23s.

He made his senior debut against Burnley on the last day of the 2016–17 Premier League season, coming on as a 91st-minute substitute for Edimilson Fernandes in a 2–1 away win, five days after captaining the under-23s to promotion with a 2–1 win away to Newcastle United.

Rice began his professional career at West Ham United, having been released by Chelsea's academy, and established himself as a key first-team player by 2017.

In 2022, he succeeded Mark Noble as club captain, and led the club to a UEFA Europa Conference League title the following year, as well as being named the competition's Player of the Season.

After making 245 appearances for West Ham, Rice was signed by Arsenal in July 2023 for a club record fee of £100 million, making him the joint-most expensive English player in history.

Rice received his first call-up to the West Ham senior squad for the games against Sunderland and Everton in April 2017, after impressing in the under-23 team.

His first-team debut came on 19 August 2017 in a 3–2 defeat at Southampton.

In April 2018, Rice was named as runner-up for the 2017–18 Hammer of the Year award behind Marko Arnautović.

On 22 December 2018, he made his 50th appearance for West Ham, becoming the first player to do so while still a teenager since Michael Carrick.

On 28 December 2018, Rice signed a new contract until 2024 with the option of an additional year.

At the end of the 2018–19 season, he was named the Players' Player of the Year and won the award for Individual Performance of the Season, for his match winning game against Arsenal, and was named the Young Hammer of the Year for the third consecutive season.

Eligible to play for England or the Republic of Ireland, prior to 2019 Rice represented the Republic of Ireland internationally at both youth and senior levels.

He subsequently changed his national allegiance and made himself available for selection by England.

Rice made his England debut in 2019 and has represented the country at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

On 12 January 2019, Rice scored his first goal for West Ham and was named man of the match in a 1–0 win against Arsenal, in West Ham's 50th Premier League game at the London Stadium.

On 20 April, Rice was named on the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, which was eventually awarded to Rice's England teammate Raheem Sterling.

On 28 December 2019, Rice captained West Ham for the first time, at age 20, in a 2–1 home loss against Leicester City.

In the 2019–20 season, Rice played in all 38 league games for West Ham, playing every single minute.

He was in the Premier League's top five players for both tackles and interceptions leading West Ham players in both categories and making more passes than any other West Ham player.

He scored his first and only Premier League goal of the season on 17 July 2020, with an outside-the-box strike against Watford, in a 3–1 win.

He was named Hammer of the Year for the first time in 2020.

On 15 February 2021, Rice scored his first goal of the season when he converted the penalty and put the team in the lead against Sheffield United in a home league win that ended 3–0.

In April 2021, having played in all of West Ham's games so far in the 2020–21 season, Rice was ruled out for four weeks with a knee injury picked-up on international duty with England.

On 16 September 2021, Rice made his European debut and scored his debut European goal in a 2–0 away victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.

On 9 May 2022, Rice was named as Hammer of the Year for a second time.

Following West Ham's Europa League campaign, which saw them reach the semi-final, Rice was named in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League Team of the Year alongside teammate Craig Dawson.

Following the retirement of Mark Noble in May 2022, Rice was named as captain of West Ham.

On 16 October 2022, Rice opened his goalscoring account for the season, scoring a curling effort from 22 yards to secure West Ham a point in a 1–1 draw against Southampton.

On 20 April 2023, Rice scored West Ham's third in a 4–1 win in the UEFA Europa Conference League against Belgian side Gent, carrying the ball for more than 50 metres before finishing past Gent goalkeeper Davy Roef, resulting in a goal labelled "perhaps the standout strike of Rice's career" by The Daily Telegraph.

In May 2023, he was again named Hammer of the Year, for the 2022–23 season.

On 8 June 2023, Rice was named as the Europa Conference League's player of the season by UEFA as Rice captained West Ham to their first major European trophy since 1965 after a 2–1 win against Fiorentina in the final a day prior.

During the 2022–23 season, Rice won possession more than any other Premier League player.