Declan Rice has revealed his Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sent him a hilarious one-word text when England reached the final of Euro 2024.
The Gunners midfielder is starring for the Three Lions out in Germany, playing every game of the tournament so far in their run to a second Euros final in a row.
Now, Rice and the rest of his England teammates face Euro 2012 champions Spain as they look to win the competition for the first time on Sunday, live on talkSPORT.
And his Spanish club manager Arteta made sure to send him a hilarious message straight after the Three Lions beat the Netherlands to book their place in the final.
Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s all important clash, Rice’s face burst into a smile when he was asked if Arteta had been in touch.
“Yeah, I’ve spoke to Mikel’s been great,” the former West Ham captain said. “We had a phone call the other day, we were speaking for about 10 minutes.
“That was good, it was nice to speak to him. I hadn’t spoke to him since the end of the season so that was really nice.
“Then he texted me the other night saying ‘VAMOS!’ when we got to the final.
“So yeah, I’m sure he’s going to be split, obviously because he’s got boys in the [Arsenal] squad who are obviously English as well.
“So yeah it’s a tough one for me, but he did wish me all the best, so I was happy with that!”
Arteta represented Spain at youth level, but never earned a cap for La Roja’s senior side.
He missed out on a call up in February 2009 due to a cruciate knee ligament injury.
The former midfielder was up against stiff competition to get into the Spain squad, with Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Santi Cazorla and David Silva amongst those standing in his way.
But that clearly hasn’t stopped him from keeping his eyes on his La Roja’s run in Germany and their upcoming clash against the country he’s spent a large portion of his life in.
talkSPORT will bring you live commentary of the Euro 2024 final on Sunday as England bid to make history against Spain. Tune in via the website or the app, and follow our live Euro 2024 blog for all the build-up.
News Summary:
- Declan Rice reveals cheeky one-word message from Spanish Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta ahead of Euro 2024 final
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