Declan Rice admitted life at Arsenal has been 'everything he expected' during a chat with co-chair Josh Kroenke on Sunday.
Rice, 25, became the Gunners' club-record signing when he moved to the Emirates from West Ham for £105million in the summer and played an influential role in the team's Premier League title challenge.
Ultimately, Mikel Arteta 's side came up short against Manchester City on the final day of the season after the reigning champions beat Rice's old team 3-1 at the Etihad.
But rather than dwelling on that disappointment, Rice revealed that he had been reflecting on a memorable maiden season with Kroenke before stressing there was plenty more to come from him.
He told NBC Sports : “I was just speaking to Josh Kroenke on the pitch then. I just said, ‘It’s been everything I expected’ – the class levels of the club is just phenomenal from top to bottom. How everything is run. How all the staff are. How the manager runs the club. From top to bottom it is an amazing place.
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“I knew there would be expectations coming here. It’s Arsenal and they’ve not won the Premier League in 20 years, just back in the Champions League. I’ve tried not to put too much pressure on myself and take it game-by-game. In football, you get confidence from games, and as the season went on we grew more and more.
“It’s been better than I ever expected it to be, my first season, and there is so much more to come from me as well.”
Join the debate! What have you made of Rice this season? Let us know here.
Kroenke, Arsenal's co-chair, was in attendance for the Everton game (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Kroenke was in attendance for the season finale against Everton, which Arsenal won 2-1 at the death.
And while that wasn't enough to end the Gunners' 20-year title drought, Kroenke vowed that the club would continue to go from strength to strength regardless of Sunday's result in a pre-match message to supporters.
He wrote: “While we are undoubtedly proud of the progress we have made, I want to be clear that no one at the club will stand still. However things finish today, we’re all working behind the scenes to move us forward – always forward – again.
“There is so much that we want to achieve, both at home & in Europe & we are focused on writing some exciting new stories & chapters that build on the history of Arsenal Football Club.”
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