Declan Rice (born 14 January 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club Arsenal and the England national team. Rice began his professional career at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, having been released by Chelsea's academy, and proceeded to establish himself as a key first-team player, entering the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Team of the Season in the 2021–22 season, and captaining the club to a

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

title in 2023, also being named player of the season. In July of that same year, Rice agreed a transfer to Arsenal for what was reported as a club and British record transfer fee, surpassing

Jack Grealish Jack Peter Grealish (born 10 September 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Manchester City and the England national team. Grealish joined Aston Villa at the age of six, and ...

's £100 million move to Manchester City. Eligible to play for England or the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, prior to 2019 Rice represented the

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 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Youth

Rice was born and raised in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

, Greater London. His paternal grandparents were from

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

, County Cork, in Ireland. He grew up in

and joined the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in 2006, as a seven-year-old. In 2013, after his release at age 14, he joined the

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. Rice won the Premier League Cup in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

with the under-21s and the Premier League 2 Division 2 in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

with the under-23s.

West Ham United

2015–2020

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

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

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-23's to promotion with a 2–1 win at Newcastle United. His first-team debut came on 19 August 2017 in a 3–2 defeat at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In April 2018, Rice was named as runner-up for the 2017–18

Hammer of the Year West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

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 Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Middlesbrough. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year p ...

. On 28 December 2018, Rice signed a new contract until 2024 with the option of an additional year. On 12 January 2019, Rice scored his first goal for West Ham and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in a 1–0 win against Arsenal, in West Ham's 50th Premier League game at the

London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is located ...

. On 20 April, Rice was named on the shortlist for the

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

award, which was eventually awarded to Rice's England teammate

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...

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

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He scored his first and only Premier League goal of the season on 17 July 2020, with an outside-the-box strike against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, in a 3–1 win. 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 was named

for the first time in 2020.

2020–2023

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 Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

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 Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. 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 Craig Dawson (born 6 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club West Ham United He has previously played for Radcliffe Borough, Bolton Wanderers, Rochdale, West Bromwich Albion, and Watford ...

. Following the retirement of

Mark Noble Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...

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 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

against Belgian side

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

, carrying the ball for more than before finishing past Gent goalkeeper

Davy Roef Davy Roef (born 6 February 1994) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Gent. Club career Early career Roef spent time with several clubs in his youth, such as Beerschot A.C., KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk, and Anderlecht. Anderlecht R ...

, resulting in a goal labelled "perhaps the standout strike of Rice's career" by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. 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 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

as Rice captained West Ham to their first major European trophy since 1965 after a 2–1 win against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

a day prior. During the 2022–23 season, Rice won possession more than any other Premier League player. He also made the most interceptions of all Premier League players. Rice left West Ham in July 2023, joining Arsenal. He played 245 games for West Ham scoring 15 goals. He is one of only three West Ham captains, along with Bobby Moore and

Billy Bonds William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...

, to have captained the club to a major trophy. West Ham chairman, David Sullivan said that the club did not want to sell the player saying they wished to build the team around him but that Rice had made it clear he wanted to move on. Rice, himself said of the transfer, "Ultimately, though, it has only ever been about my ambition to play at the very highest level of the game."

Arsenal

On 15 July 2023, Rice signed for Premier League club Arsenal on a long-term contract. It was reported that the transfer fee was a club-record initial £100million, potentially rising by £5million in add-ons, making him the most expensive English player, equalling the previous record held by

. The structure of the transfer was given as West Ham receiving £50m immediately and a further £50m in the summer of 2024. They will also receive £1m every time Arsenal qualify for a place in the Champions League during his time at the club and £1m if he plays 60 per-cent of games in a season, with those payments capped at £5m. He made his debut on 6 August against Manchester City in the 2023 FA Community Shield, which Arsenal won 4–1 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. On 12 August, Rice started in Arsenal's opening match of the

2023–24 Premier League The 2023–24 Premier League is the 32nd season of the Premier League and 125th season of English football overall. The fixtures were announced on 15 June 2023 at 09:00 BST. Manchester City are the three-time defending champions, and can beco ...

season, a 2–1 home win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

International career

Republic of Ireland

Although born in London, Rice was eligible to play for Ireland as his grandparents are from Cork. On 19 March 2017, Rice was named Republic of Ireland U17 player of the year. On 23 May 2017, only days after his

debut, Rice was named in the

squad to play friendlies against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and a World Cup qualifier at home to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He made his senior debut on 23 March 2018 in a 1–0 defeat to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. In August 2018, Rice was omitted from the squad to play

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

by manager

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

, who said that Rice was considering switching to play for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

after being approached by them. By November 2018, having been omitted from three squads selected by O'Neill, Rice said he was no closer in deciding whether to play for Ireland or England. In December 2018, Rice met with new Ireland manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

and his assistant, Robbie Keane. McCarthy said that Rice was a potential future captain of Ireland and that he would build the team around Rice should he decide to play for the country.

England

On 13 February 2019, Rice pledged his future to England. On 5 March, his change of allegiance was confirmed by FIFA. On 13 March, he was called up by England for their forthcoming UEFA Euro 2020 qualification matches against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. He made his debut on 22 March as a 63rd-minute substitute against the Czech Republic at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. On 25 March 2019, England manager

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup ...

handed Rice his first start for the national side during a 5–1 victory over Montenegro. Following Rice's successful

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, he was handed a place in the England squad for the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals. In September 2019, Rice said that he had received online

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...

s after switching allegiance from Ireland Football Association to England Football Association. He was the first player to play for both countries since Jack Reynolds in the 1890s. Rice was named in the England squad for

. Rice played in all seven games for England at Euro 2020 where they finished runner-up in the final to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Rice was included in the England squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He started all five matches as England reached the quarter-finals, losing 2–1 to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Style of play

Regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, Rice is known for his athleticism, tackling and ball carrying ability.

Personal life

Rice has been a close friend of

Mason Mount Mason Tony Mount (born 10 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking or central midfielder for club Chelsea and the England national team. Mount began his senior club career with Chelsea, and joined Vite ...

since childhood from when they played together at Chelsea's academy. In August 2022, Rice confirmed the birth of his first child, a son, with long-term girlfriend, Lauren Fryer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rice goal''

Honours

West Ham United *

: 2022–23 Arsenal * FA Community Shield:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

England *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

runner-up:

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

third place: 2018–19 Individual *

Young Player of the Year: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *West Ham United Player of the Year: 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23 * Republic of Ireland U17 Player of the Year: 2016 * FAI Young International Player of the Year: 2018 *

Team of the Season: 2021–22 *UEFA Europa Conference League Team of the Season: 2022–23 *UEFA Europa Conference League Player of the Season: 2022–23

References

External links

Profile
at the West Ham United F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Declan 1999 births Living people Footballers from Kingston upon Thames English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Premier League players UEFA Europa Conference League winning players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers England men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Dual men's international footballers English people of Irish descent