Stuart Pearce has just made an incredibly bold claim about Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice.
Declan Rice joined Arsenal from West Ham in the summer of 2023, for a fee believed to be worth £105 million.
There are probably not many people who know the England international midfielder more than former Hammers coach Stuart Pearce.
The 62-year-old was a first-team coach at the London Stadium during David Moyes’s tenure at the club, up until the summer of 2022 when he moved on.
Pearce would have witnessed Rice’s meteoric rise to one of the best midfielders in world football first hand.
Dec was sensational for West Ham during his final three or four years at the London Stadium, and he’s maintained that brilliant form for Arsenal.
Rice recently admitted that he’s been doing exactly what he’s done at the Emirates for years with the Hammers, much to the surprise of some Gunners fans.
He’s just playing alongside better players now isn’t he. That said, Pearce has offered a surprise take on the midfielder…
Stuart Pearce makes Declan Rice fee claim
Rice enjoyed his best goal and assist return of his career last season.
The former Hammer bagged seven goals and 10 assists in 51 games for Arsenal, and he was one of their best and most consistent performers, if not the best.
Pearce has now made a new claim about the Gunners star.
The former West Ham, Nottingham Forest and England star doesn’t think Rice was worth £105 million.
However, not in the sense that you might think…
Pearce was speaking to talkSPORT about Rice’s rise to the top, alongside ex-Hammers boss David Moyes.
And the former West Ham coach weighed in when asked about the money Arsenal paid to sign Dec.
Pearce said, “You know, I laugh. A couple of years ago people were saying you will never get £100 million for Declan.”
He continued, “And I remember me, I was saying no, we will get £150 million. And I was saying hold out for £150 million and people were saying you are off your head.”
“I think when you look at players who have come around that price, I think Dec has surpassed all of them and looks above them”, Pearce concluded.
Rice under-priced?
In my opinion, £105 million was a fair price for the Hammers to receive, considering the fact that he essentially had only two years left on his deal with us at the time of his switch to the Gunners.
At the same time, I think the north London outfit got a great deal by signing Rice for that money.
The 25-year-old was outstanding for Arsenal last season, after making his big money move from West Ham.
He’s one of the rare players who move for enormous fees and actually go on to succeed with their new clubs.
Stuart Pearce is clearly a huge fan of Declan Rice, and aside from some West Ham fans, who isn’t?
He doesn’t think he was worth £105 million, but more like £150 million. The funny thing is, if Arsenal would have paid that kind of money for him, it still would’ve been a good deal for them.
That said, for £150 million, you want a player chalking up at least 10 goals and 10 assists, probably more like 25-30 goals and assists combined per season right?
I actually think Rice is capable of producing those kind of numbers with Arsenal, and it will be interesting to see his return with the Gunners next season.
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