RICE RICE BABY

Recent months have been memorable for England's rapping midfielder - after lifting a European trophy in his last game for West Ham, he joined Arsenal for a club record £105m in July. As he tells FFT, he's determined to guide the Gunners to glory

- Chris Flanagan

"HOW OLD IS THAT TORTOISE?”

Declan Rice may be the most expensive British footballer of all time these days, but he’s lost none of his curiosity about the age of domesticated reptiles. Arsenal’s £105m club-record signing is back on familiar turf this afternoon, meeting FourFourTwo at our base for the day – a location in leafy Cobham, complete with a pet tortoise wandering around quietly in the background. It’s 15, thanks for asking.

Coincidentally, we’re just a few hundred yards from Chelsea’s training ground, where the Kingston-born midfielder learned his trade between the ages of seven and 14. “I spent the first part of my career coming to this area, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,” he explains to FFT. Today, our location has nothing to do with the Blues and everything to do with convenience – Rice is popping in to see us on his way home from his new training base at London Colney.