 Arsenal legend Ian Wright has revealed he spoke to Declan Rice about joining the Gunners four months ago during a visit to England's St George's Park headquarters. Arsenal news, exclusives and analysis Sign up Privacy Policy After weeks of negotiations, the north Londoners finally confirmed Rice's arrival on Saturday after agreeing a club-record £105million deal with West Ham to sign their skipper. Wright actually popped up in an announcement video from Adidas, appearing to be on the phone to Rice as he said: 'My friend, no, listen, honestly, I've made the move from south to north, it works man, this is the place to be!' It wouldn't be the first conversation Wright has had with the 24-year-old about moving to the Emirates, with the Arsenal icon sharing the details of a conversation he had with Rice back in March. Wright was visiting the England HQ while they were preparing for European Championship qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine and couldn't resist selling Arsenal – and the prospect of playing alongside Bukayo Saka – to the then West Ham captain. 'Everyone was saying about when I went to the England squad, I was tapping him up. Yes I f***ing was! Literally, I was begging him,' said the player-turned-pundit on his Wrighty's House podcast. 'I don't work for the club, I'm an Arsenal fan. I said, 'Look at you and Saka, how cool you lot look together'. It's just excitement.' Arsenal forked out a British-record £105m to sign Rice (Picture: Getty) Rice had plenty of clubs interested in him this summer – including Premier League champions Manchester City and German giants Bayern Munich – but Arsenal were always his number one choice. Explaining his decision to join the Gunners, he said: 'I've been looking at Arsenal over the last couple of seasons and the trajectory they've been going on. 'Last season was an outstanding season, blowing pretty much every team out of the water w){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has revealed he spoke to Declan Rice about joining the Gunners four months ago during a visit to England’s St George’s Park headquarters.
Arsenal news, exclusives and analysis
After weeks of negotiations, the north Londoners finally confirmed Rice’s arrival on Saturday after agreeing a club-record £105million deal with West Ham to sign their skipper.
Wright actually popped up in an announcement video from Adidas, appearing to be on the phone to Rice as he said: ‘My friend, no, listen, honestly, I’ve made the move from south to north, it works man, this is the place to be!’