RTE News 'troll' England with report on Declan Rice's Arsenal transfer

RTE News clearly enjoyed themselves when reporting on Declan Rice's impending move to Arsenal from West Ham this week.

The 24-year-old is on the brink of a move to north London after Arsenal reportedly agreed a fee of £100 million plus £5 million in add-ons.

It would see Rice become the most expensive Englishman in Premier League history – something RTE News poked a little fun at.

When reporting on the news on its Six One sports bulletin, the Irish channel set their story against the footage of Rice playing and training not for England, but for Ireland.

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Rice was capped at junior and senior level for Ireland, winning three caps for the country. However, he then pledged his future to England and was capped for the Three Lions for the first time in 2019.

Despite being born in England, Rice was eligible to play for Ireland through his grandparents.

The move from the channel didn’t go unnoticed on social media, with one user writing: “Sublime s***housery by RTE News reporting on Declan Rice.”

One more said: “This is the pettiness that I like to see, really enjoyable watch.”

Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Another added: “The pain of seeing him in that Irish jersey only to be an English international now.”

“He should have said he’s become the most expensive Irishman in history at the end that would have been class,” a user commented.

There was, however, one user who suggested there was a more innocent explanation by writing: “Or they just used footage they already had the rights for…”

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