Topics: Declan Rice, England, Republic of Ireland, West Ham United, Arsenal
Irish broadcaster RTE are going viral after they produced a report on Declan Rice becoming "the most expensive Englishman in Premier League history” whilst showing images of him playing in an Ireland shirt.
Arsenal have reached a total agreement with West Ham to sign the central-midfielder for a fee believed to be £100 million plus an additional £5 million in add-ons.
Rice, who will undergo a medical at Arsenal in the coming days, is set to become Arsenal's club-record signing after an agreement was reached.
Many outlets are reporting the news, including Irish public service broadcaster RTE, who updated viewers with a highlights package that included footage of him playing for the Republic of Ireland in 2018.
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You can see that clip below.
Here's how social media reacted to the RTE video.
One said: "A level of pettiness which can only be applauded," while another commented: "The national broadcaster has been under a lot of criticism lately but this…..this is worth the license fee."
A third wrote: "Standards in RTE are on the up already. Fantastic. Gives me hope for RTE, not sure about Arsenal though."
Rice, who has Irish paternal grandparents, played for the country at various youth age groups and was named Republic of Ireland U17 Player of the Year in 2017.
He went on to make his senior debut in March 2018 and played three times for the senior side under then-manager Martin O’Neill.
Rice was then approached to play for England, his birth country, before switching allegiance to the Three Lions in February 2019.
So why was he allowed to play for England? Well, all three of his appearances for Ireland came in friendlies; a FIFA rule that meant Rice was free to change national teams.
Former England international Stuart Pearce, who coached Rice at West Ham, believes players shouldn't be able to change allegiances.
“One thing I disagree with and I think a ruling should be made, as soon as you wear a national shirt for a country, you cannot change allegiances and go and play for someone else," Pearce told talkSPORT.
“If you play youth football up to Under-21… when we played a tournament against Germany in a major final, their left back turned up playing for the Canadians a month later or however long, from being a German Under-21 international, which you can do.
“For me, I just think it’s wrong. If you decide to put a national shirt on at any age group - this is my personal opinion - you should not be allowed to chop and change and go and play for another nation.”
