WATCH: Arsenal's Declan Rice mocked by West Ham fans on London Stadium return

Declan Rice in action for Arsenal against his former club West Ham at the London Stadium in February 2024.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Declan Rice was cheekily mocked by West Ham fans on Sunday on his return to the London Stadium in the Premier League with Arsenal.

After being released by Chelsea as a youngster, Rice joined West Ham's youth academy and went on to make 245 appearances for the east London club, winning the Europa Conference League in his final season with the Hammers.

Rice left West Ham for Arsenal in the summer in a record £105 million deal and has gone on to become a popular player with the Gunners this term.

Returning to the London Stadium for the first time since his summer switch, Rice was mocked by the West Ham fans in the first half on Sunday.

When the midfielder went across to take a corner kick, the home supporters could not resist a dig at their former hero.

"You should've signed for a big club," the fans could be heard chanting. Rice took it all in good spirits, though, as he smiled back.

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And the Arsenal midfielder had the last laugh as the Gunners hit four goals in a one-sided first half at the London Stadium.

William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel and Leandro Trossard were all on target for Mikel Arteta's side as the visitors went in 4-0 up at the break.

Saka added another in the second half to make it 5-0 and Rice then got on the scoresheet himself as Arsenal went six ahead with 25 minutes still to play.

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Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is the Weekend Editor of FourFourTwo. A European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.