Declan Rice wins at London Football Awards

Declan Rice has been named Premier League Player of the Year at the 2024 London Football Awards.

Our midfielder has been recognised for his displays for both West Ham United and ourselves over the course of the past year, either side of his summer switch to Emirates Stadium, and follows in the footsteps of Martin Odegaard who claimed the award last year.

Declan ended his time at the Hammers on a huge high, as he became just the second player to skipper the club to a European trophy after Bobby Moore when he played a huge part in their UEFA Europa Conference League success in June.

Since swapping east for north London the following month, he has gone on to net four goals and lay on six assists to quickly make an impression at Emirates Stadium, netting last-gasp winners against Manchester United and Luton Town as well as a Goal of the Month contender on his first return to the London Stadium earlier this month.

All that saw him take the accolade ahead of former and current teammates Jarrod Bowen and William Saliba, as well as Tottenham Hotspur duo Guglielmo Vicario and Pedro Porro.

Speaking on-stage at the event, Declann said: "Since I've walked through the doors [at Arsenal] I've loved every single moment of it. I was at West Ham for 10 years and it's such a big change with the environment, life, a different manager and different friends, so my thinking was just to go there and be myself. 

"As time has gone on and the games have gone on I've tried to be confident and do the best I can for the team. So far we've been going really well and hopefully we can have a good end to the season.

"There have been so many good moments so far, but I think due to the stature of the game I would have to say the goal against United was the best. It was my first goal for Arsenal - Garnacho had one ruled out for offside five minutes before and then I took one down off my chin and put it in the back of the net so I was happy with that one. That was the best moment so far."