Declan Rice insists his focus is on West Ham and not his future as the club celebrate winning the Europa Conference League.
West Ham ended a 43-year wait for a major trophy after beating Fiorentina 2-1 to win the Europa Conference League, with Jarrod Bowen’s last-minute winner sealing success in Prague.
Said Benrahma had opened the scoring for David Moyes’ side from the penalty spot, but Giacomo Bonaventura’s smart finish levelled for Fiorentina and looked set to send the final into extra-time.
West Ham won it late as Bowen raced away to fire home a famous winner, with the Londoners securing a first major trophy since lifting the FA Cup in 1980.
Rice has been strongly linked with an exit this summer amid interest from Champions League clubs, but the England midfielder discussed his ‘love’ for West Ham and his intention to focus on the celebrations ahead.
“At the moment, there’s a lot of speculation going on about my future. There is interest from other clubs, that’s out there, but I’ve got two years left at West Ham ultimately,” he told BT Sport.
“I love this club, I love playing for this club. There’s not been anything yet, so my focus is on playing for West Ham, enjoying tonight and then seeing what happens. I’m captain of this club, I love it to pieces and I cannot speak highly enough of this place. Let’s see what happens.”
Rice became the first West Ham captain to lift a major trophy in more than four decades and admits the club’s European triumph ‘means absolutely everything’ to those at the London Stadium.
“Honestly, it means absolutely everything. Tonight, the lads have been so on it. We had a real belief, I’m not just happy for us, the manager, but these fans, the staff – no one knows the work they put in. The chefs, player liaisons, I’m just as happy for myself as I am for them. I’m so, so happy.”
