Rice's love-in with Arteta & Arsenal'll still rankle with the Hammers faithful

Historically when a rival takes your club's best player, the reaction can often be quite dour.

Take Sol Campbell, the Tottenham captain moving to Arsenal in 2001 where he went on to be a key figure in the Invincibles side.

Twenty years later, Campbell revealed he still receives abuse. He told talkSPORT: 'It's ridiculous because it happened such a long time ago. Are you going to keep worrying about me when I'm 80 years old?'

Or Ashley Cole, dubbed 'Cashley Cole' when he swapped the Gunners for Chelsea in a £6million deal in 2006 that saw William Gallas go the other way. His subsequent visits to the Emirates were often abuse-filled.

Yet with Declan Rice, who returns to West Ham for the first time today in the Carabao Cup round of 16, it’s a markedly different scenario because of his actions before moving to Arsenal for £105million over the summer.

Mikel Arteta certainly thinks so. He said on Tuesday: 'He's fit and can be involved. It will be his first time back at his old club and a beautiful moment for him.

'I would say so (a good reception), I hope so. And especially every time you hear him talk about West Ham and what they did for him and everybody at the club, he cannot talk any higher so hopefully it will be the same way towards him.'

The midfielder could have left the Hammers after the 2021-22 season, but agreed with the board to stay for another campaign because of Mark Noble's retirement.

He took the captain's armband, brushed aside speculation and registered a slew of record-breaking feats.

The 2022–23 season saw Rice win more possession than any other player in the league, and gain the most interceptions.

It culminated in West Ham winning the Europa Conference League trophy — the club's first major European trophy since