Arsenal star Declan Rice has revealed the nickname his teammates have given him at the Emirates.
The Englishman has had an amazing debut season as a Gunner. He has arguably been their best player and is almost definitely the signing of the season in the Premier League.
Rice’s quality was well-known before he joined Arsenal, but one thing about his game still seems to have shocked some of his teammates.
That has resulted in Rice getting a new nickname that he says is ‘so funny’.
Declan Rice shares reason behind Arsenal teammates giving him a new nickname
Arsenal signed Declan Rice for a club-record fee from West Ham United in the summer of 2023.
Mikel Arteta had made his mind up very early on that the England midfielder was his number one target, and he got his man in the end after Rice snubbed Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
The 25-year-old played 51 games for Arsenal in his debut season, scoring seven goals and providing 10 assists in all competitions.
That is the best return of his professional career, but it’s not the one thing that has surprised his teammates at Arsenal.
Rice filmed a video on Chinese website Iqiyi during the season and that was released over the weekend.
The Englishman was asked what animal he compares himself to. Instead of sharing what he thinks about himself, he revealed what his Arsenal teammates call him.
Rice says he has been nicknamed ‘horse’ at the Emirates because his teammates were shocked about how much he can run and how powerful he is while doing the same.
He said: “Zinchenko literally just sent me a video a minute ago on Instagram of a horse. They call me ‘horse’. He sent me a video of this horse ready to run and said ‘get ready for the game tomorrow’.
“They just call me a horse because they just say they can’t believe how much I run and (how) powerful I am when I’m running. So, they call me a horse. Everyone calls me it now. It’s so funny.”
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Declan Rice tops Arsenal charts in key running stat
Rice’s athleticism is simply unbelievable.
The former West Ham captain works incredibly hard for the team at both ends of the pitch, and his heat map will tell you he’s almost everywhere on the field.
Rice also covers a lot of ground every single game. As a matter of fact, he ran more than any other Arsenal player in the 2023/24 season – a staggering 427 kilometres. (CIES)
Martin Odegaard is the only one at Arsenal who comes close (414), and just two other players in the entire Premier League boast a better figure than Rice.
Arsenal players are not wrong to call him a horse!