Premier League

ARSENAL’S £105million signing Declan Rice has admitted he didn’t feel “normal” after his transfer to North London.His comments have seen the wise words Mikel Arteta gave to the midfielder when he joined the Gunners resurface.
Declan Rice admitted he didn’t feel ‘normal’ when he first moved to ArsenalCredit: Alamy
After a bidding war between Arsenal and Manchester City, Rice, 24, ultimately decided on a move across the capital.
The England international’s transfer fee set a new record in the Premier League at the time – although it was soon eclipsed by Chelsea’s £115m signing of Moises Caicedo.
Being the most expensive British player in history, the ex-West Ham star revealed what it’s like to play with a huge price tag around your neck.
He said: “You’re a human being bought for £105m, it doesn’t feel very normal, when the transfer was going through I was very nervous because of the price tag.
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“It’s natural to think about that… But that was because of what I’d done at West Ham, what they valued me at.
“So when I signed for Arsenal, I just thought I just need to be Declan Rice, be myself, don’t be any different, everything will go smoothly.
“The first three weeks of pre-season were really tough in terms of the change.
“When you’re at a new job you start to feel really settled after a few weeks.
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“That really feels the case now. In terms of the price-tag, I don’t really think about it, I just play the games and try to play as well as possible.”
Before he took to the main stage at the Emirates, Arteta had some advice for Rice on how to cope with the pressure which.
The Arsenal boss said: “In a really natural way. He’s a really intelligent person, I think he has the right experience.
“He’s an international player as well, and he needs to forget about the price tag.
“You cannot play to try and justify every ball the £100m that they pay for you.
“It doesn’t work like that. It has to come naturally, he needs to be himself, he’s an exceptional player and he needs to put that for the team in the best possible way.”
Rice has been impressive in his debut season with the Gunners, contributing two goals and two assists in 18 games – with the team currently third in the league. More

BOBBY CLARK is the son of a Newcastle legend but left the club to join Liverpool.The 18-year-old midfielder signed for the Reds in 2021 before turning professional when he turned 17 the following February.
Liverpool midfielder Bobby Clark is the son of a Newcastle legendCredit: Getty
He had come through the academy at Newcastle, where his dad Lee had two separate spells as a player.
An England youth international, Clark made his Liverpool debut last season in the 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth at Anfield.
He had previously starred for the first-team during pre-season and has two senior appearances to his name.
The teenager can play across the front three but is a midfielder by trade, which is where he plays for Liverpool’s under-21 side.
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Clark has scored two goals and provided three assists in the Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy so far this season.
Meanwhile, he also won his first two caps for England’s under-19s in September, featuring in friendlies against Germany and Switzerland.
His dad was also a midfielder, with Lee Clark playing for both Sunderland and Fulham after graduating from the Newcastle academy.
He later returned to St. James’ Park and ended his career with the club in 2006.
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Lee Clark made 260 appearances across two spells with NewcastleCredit: Getty
Across his two spells, Clark made 260 appearances before staying on as an assistant manager under both Glenn Roeder and Sam Allardyce.
Clark later had spells in charge at Huddersfield, Birmingham and Blackpool, with his most recent role seeing him take charge of Al-Ittihad Club in Oman. More

GABBY AGBONLAHOR “hated” rocking up for England duty because of the Manchester United and Chelsea cliques that were in the squad.The Aston Villa legend revealed how he could not sit at the “big club” player’s table back in the day at the Three Lions under Fabio Capello.
Gabriel Agbonlahor ‘hated’ England duty due to the ‘big club’ cliquesCredit: Getty
Agbonlahor, 37, made the teamsheet for the England squad on five separate occasions.
He was a part of the same squad as the “Golden Generation” including Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
The former forward was “honoured” to be called up to represent his nation.
But confessed how much he “hated” training with the squad during international duty.
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He told talkSPORT: “I hated it.
“Going in the camp is what people hated doing — not playing for your country — that was a big achievement and honour.
“It was going away like Fabio Capello was like a school teacher; you get there, and it is like Man United players, little cliques.”
There were times Agbonlahor recalled that he and stars from West Ham and Everton were forced to sit together as they “weren’t at the top clubs”.
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He added: “With the players from the big clubs, it was like, who are you sitting with?
“I might be sitting with Matthew Upson, Stewart Downing, and Phil Jagielka, the players that weren’t at the top clubs.
“It was like you can’t sit there the Man City or Chelsea boys are there.
“They had their half of the dining table; that’s what I did not like.”
“Though playing for my country was a big honour.”
Agbonlahor made three appearances for the Three Lions with his last being a World Cup qualifier in October 2009 against Belarus.
Gareth Southgate’s England squad are next in action on Monday night against North Macedonia in a Euro 2024 qualifier. More

CHELSEA legend Eden Hazard put so little effort into training that he couldn’t even be bothered to tie up his boot laces.That’s according to his former team-mate John Obi Mikel, who opened up about what the Belgian was like behind-the-scenes.
John Obi Mikel claims Eden Hazard showed no interest in trainingCredit: Action Images – Reuters
Eden Hazard even told John Terry to not ‘disturb’ him in trainingCredit: Getty
They were team-mates at Stamford Bridge for five years and the duo won the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League together.
Hazard was Chelsea’s star man in that period, scoring 110 goals in 352 games and he was even crowned the Premier League Player of the Year in 2014/15.
But Obi Mikel claims all his talent was effortless and the winger was lazy in training.
The former Nigerian international told the Vibe with Five show: “He achieved all that he achieved without putting in effort, imagine if he did.
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“This guy comes to training and he doesn’t tie his boots up, he just stands there with his hands in his pants.”
Obi Mikel also claims if any manager questioned his intensity he would “just mumble” and when team-mates threatened not to pass to him he would encourage them to play without him.
He also apparently told John Terry to not “disturb” him when the captain demanded more effort.
Jose Mourinho previously claimed Hazard is “awful” and “doesn’t work much” away from matchday.
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He eventually left Chelsea for Real Madrid in 2019 in an £88.3million deal.
However, Hazard struggled to perform in Spain and played just 76 times as he battled with injury.
Mikel says that he opted to put effort in during Real Madrid training sessions and he now believes it led to fitness problems as his body was not used to the extra workload.
Hazard decided to hang up his boots in October this year after his Los Blancos contract expired.
The 32-year-old even turned down multiple offers from Saudi Arabian clubs as big as £1m-a-week as he already has plenty of money, according to Obi Mikel.
He has revealed several Chelsea stories since retiring in 2021, explaining how players knew if a manager was going to be sacked by Roman Abramovich.
Hazard (right) during his time at ChelseaCredit: Arfa Griffiths – The Sun More