Arsenal Fan Circle

🚨 Declan Rice on Bruno Guimaraes emotional celebration after scoring against Leeds United: “I’ve played against Bruno enough times to know what he’s like. When he was at Newcastle, you could be having a perfectly good afternoon until he decided you weren’t going to have one anymore. He’d follow you around, get into challenges, say something in your ear. Then you’d look at him and he’d smile. I remember telling him once, ‘Bruno, can you just leave me alone for 5 minutes?’ He said, ‘No, Declan. That’s my job.’ So when he joined Arsenal, I told him, ‘At least now I won’t have to play against you.’ He said, ‘You think training will be easier?’ I said, ‘Don’t start.’ But that’s Bruno. He loves football, he loves competing, and he’s not somebody who enjoys sitting down watching other people play. Today, when Leeds went ahead, I looked towards our bench at one point. Bruno was already on his feet. He wasn’t warming up yet. He was just standing there watching. I remember thinking, ‘He’ll be driving Mikel mad in a minute.’ Then Riccardo scored the equaliser, and Mikel made the changes. Bruno came on. Before we restarted, he came over to me. ‘Dec, give me the ball.’ I said, ‘I’ve been trying to give everybody the ball for an hour, Bruno.’ ‘No, no. Give it to me.’ I said, ‘Alright, just get yourself into the right position.’ A few minutes later, there he was. I played the pass, he took his chance, and suddenly we’re 2–1 up. Now, normally when you assist somebody, there’s a little understanding. The goalscorer turns around, you celebrate together, everybody’s happy. Not Bruno. The man scored and completely forgot I existed. I was running towards him, and he was already halfway to the supporters. I thought, ‘Bruno, at least acknowledge the person who passed you the ball.’ Nothing. He was gone. And then I saw him reach the crowd. Supporters were grabbing him, shouting his name, and he was shouting right back. I stopped for a moment because I understood. People forget that when you join a new club, especially one with expectations like Arsenal, you’re trying to find your place. You can get along with everyone in the dressing room. You can have a good relationship with the manager. But you still want that moment when the supporters feel you’re one of them. Bruno had played against these people for years. Now he’d scored a goal that put us ahead, and he was celebrating with them like he’d been here his whole life. Afterwards, I told him, ‘You know, I assisted that goal.’ He said, ‘I know.’ ‘You didn’t even look at me.’ ‘Dec, I was celebrating.’ ‘I noticed. I nearly had to buy a ticket to get anywhere near you.’ He started laughing. Then he said, ‘You don’t understand. I needed that.’ And I think that tells you everything. For him, it wasn’t just about scoring his first goal at the Emirates against Leeds. It was about finally having one of those moments in an Arsenal shirt that he’ll remember. I’m happy for him. Although I’ve told him that next time he scores from one of my passes, he has to celebrate with me first. He said, ‘We’ll see.’ Which is exactly the sort of answer you’d expect from somebody who spent years making my life difficult at Newcastle. Some things never change. The only difference is that now, when Bruno Guimaraes makes somebody’s afternoon miserable, hopefully it’s the opposition.”