Following Arsenal’s brilliant 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League, the chatter on Tuesday night had been just how surprised everyone was by Declan Rice’s pair of stunning free-kicks.
Arsenal players appeared to line up to tell media around the world they’d never seen the midfielder take such a free-kick, and that the whole thing had taken them by surprise.
Manuel Pellegrini was in charge of the England international at West Ham United, and whilst he’s not come out and said he’s seen Rice do similar before, even in Hammers training, he has made it clear he wasn’t surprised.
The Spanish manager had Rice as a young player at West Ham and was clearly a fan of what he saw during that time.
During a press conference ahead of Real Betis’ Europa League match against Poland’s Jagiellonia Białystok, Pellegrini was asked about his former player and what he did for Arsenal on Tuesday.
Marca quote the Betis manager as saying: Declan was one of the young players we brought into the first team. “I know there were intentions to send him out on loan, but we insisted he had to play at West Ham. He was later sold for 110m and has already proven his quality at Arsenal.
“I’m not surprised at all that he scored two goals from free kicks because he strikes the ball very well.
“He deserves it because he’s a very capable player and very serious to coach. A great professional. I’m very sorry for Real Madrid, but I’m happy for Declan.”
