Arsenal star Declan Rice recalls hilarious incident involving boss Mikel Arteta on his first day at club

Arsenal new signing Declan Rice has shared a hilarious incident involving team boss Mikel Arteta on the first day he arrived at the Emirates.

Rice, 24, arrived on a club record £105 million this summer from West Ham United, having won the UEFA Europa Conference League last season. He has hit the ground running at the Emirates, starting all five games across competitions and missing only nine minutes of action.

The Englishman opened his account for the Gunners in the 3-1 Premier League win at home to Manchester United last weekend, just before the ongoing international break.

He has now narrated an incident on his first day at the club involving Arteta, which portrayed the funny side of the Gunners boss. Rice said (as per afcstuff):

“I was a bit nervous - the first day (at Arsenal), I was down there on the Sunday, the lads weren’t in, but I come out of the physio room & Arteta, just like little things he does, he put like a sticker on my chest saying, ‘Hello, I’m the new person’. All the under-18s & under-21s are in the canteen, & I’m walking through trying to hide my chest.”

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How have Arsenal fared this season?

Mikel Arteta

Arsenal have made a decent start to their new 2023-24 campaign. They beat reigning treble winners Manchester City on penalties to win the FA Community Shield.

The Gunners opened their Premier League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest. Arteta and Co. then showed their resilience, winning 1-0 at Crystal Palace after having a player sent off.

Arsenal's perfect start to the league campaign, though, came to an in their next outing, when they drew 2-2 at home to Fulham. The Gunners, though, returned to winning ways in their very next outing against arch-rivals Manchester United.

Just when it seemed that the game would end 1-1, Arteta and Co. scored twice in added time - with Rice being one of the scorers - to remain unbeaten in the league. They're fifth in the standings with 10 points, two behind leaders Manchester City, and next take on Everton away on September 17.