Pettiness at it’s very best
A news report on Declan Rice’s pending move to Arsenal from Irish broadcaster RTÉ has gone viral after they showed pictures of him playing for Ireland while labelling him as the “most expensive Englishman in Premier League history”.
Arsenal have agreed a deal reported to be worth £100m with an extra £5m in add ons for the West Ham midfielder, who is set to undergo a medical in the coming days.
Many outlets are providing regular updates on what could be one of the signings of the summer and RTÉ are no different, however instead of using recent clips, opted to use highlights of Rice playing for the Republic of Ireland in 2018.
Fans reacted to the clip with one user saying: “This is the pettiness that I like to see, really enjoyable watch.”
A second said: Standards in RTÉ are on the up already. Fantastic. Gives me hope for RTÉ, not sure about Arsenal though.”
“A level of spite I can get fully on board with,” wrote a third.
Rice qualified to play for Ireland through his grandparents and played for the country throughout the various youth ages and was voted Republic of Ireland U17 Player of the Year in 2017.
He would also make his senior debut under Martin O’Neill and featured three times before switching his allegiance to England in 2019 after being approached by the Three Lions.
As he had only featured in friendlies for Ireland, he was allowed to switch to Gareth Southgate’s side and has since gone on to compete in Euro 2020 and the most recent World Cup in Qatar.
Related links:
- Piers Morgan names one player Arsenal should sign after completing Declan Rice deal
- Declan Rice surprises kids from his hometown
- Roy Keane hits out at Declan Rice ‘PR’ and criticises player’s performance for West Ham
