Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice enjoyed an excellent first season in North London, and is now aiming to make history with the England National Team.
Rice will start in England’s Euro 2024 final clash with Spain in Berlin, having played every minute of the campaign so far, but Gareth Southgate’s side will come up against tough opposition.
The 25-year-old joined Arsenal from West Ham for a club record fee last summer, and has since reached a new level of performance under Mikel Arteta.
Arteta, like Rice, was a midfielder who moved between more advanced roles and deeper positions. The Spaniard will be watching the final with plenty of interest, as four of his Arsenal stars are in the squad.
Whilst Arteta may be supporting his home Nation in the final, he is still eager for Rice, Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale to perform well, and he has communicated with Rice in the build-up to the game.
Mikel Arteta spoke to Declan Rice ahead of England vs Spain in Euro 2024 final
Speaking in a press conference, Rice revealed that he and Arteta recently spoke after a few weeks of no communication during the tournament.
“Yeah, I have spoken to Mikel. He has been great. We had a phone call the other day. We were speaking for about 10 minutes,” Rice revealed.
“That was good. You know, it was nice to speak to him, hadn’t spoken to him since the end of the season, so that was really nice. Then he texted me the other night, saying ‘Vamos’ when we got to the final.”
Rice then gave his verdict on Arteta’s potential conflict of interest for the final.
“Yeah, I am sure he is going to be split obviously because’s Spanish, but he has also got boys in the squad who are obviously English as well. So, yeah, it’s a tough one for him, but he did wish me all the best. I was happy with that,” he added.
Mikel Arteta has conflicting interests in Euro 2024 final
Only Rice and Saka are expected to start the final out of Arteta’s players, with goalkeepers David Raya and Ramsdale on their benches.
Allegiances aside, Arteta will know the potential boost an England win can give to Rice and Saka heading into next season, with Saka now being lauded for his role in the last two games.
Arteta was born in the Basque region of Spain and played for Real Sociedad and Barcelona. Whilst he never received a senior Spain call-up, this was more reflective of the quality within the Spain National Team during his peak years, than of his own ability, but it would still be a surprise if Arteta was actively rooting for England to win.
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