Declan Rice Welcomes Bruno Guimaraes To Arsenal By Asking Him To Stop Fighting Him

Declan Rice has welcomed Bruno Guimarães to Arsenal by asking his new teammate if they can now stop fighting each other.

Guimarães completed a £75million move from Newcastle United to the Premier League champions, bringing an end to four-and-a-half years at St James’ Park and adding another established midfielder to Mikel Arteta’s squad.

One of those midfielders has already taken steps to improve relations.

Guimarães revealed that Rice sent him a message while his transfer was being completed which read: “Come here and please no more fights, now we’re friends.”

It was a reasonable issue to address.

The pair have spent recent seasons facing each other during increasingly competitive meetings between Arsenal and Newcastle, with their midfield battles occasionally developing into considerably more personal disagreements.

They will now be expected to operate on the same side.

Guimarães said he was happy to receive Rice’s message and described Arsenal’s collection of midfielders as one of the best in Europe, with Martin Ødegaard, Martín Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino among the other options available to Arteta.

The Brazilian’s arrival gives Arsenal another aggressive and technically gifted midfielder capable of competing alongside Rice rather than against him.

This should considerably reduce the number of disagreements between the pair, provided they remember which shirts they are wearing.

Arsenal have spent £75million turning one of Rice’s regular midfield opponents into a potential midfield partner.

The peace negotiations have already begun.