West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice sent a gushing three word message to Hammers teammate Pablo Zabaleta on Wednesday.
It was revealed by the east London outfit that the veteran right back had signed a one year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of next season.
And Rice was clearly over the moon at the news, writing on his personal Twitter account: “What a man,” along with the heart-eyes emoji.
OPINION
You can see how much Zabaleta means to his West Ham teammates in Rice’s words here. The Argentinian is clearly a leader in the London Stadium dressing room and seems like a real gentleman as well. So it’s no surprise that Rice was delighted with the news that the 34-year-old will be sticking around for another year. For a young player like Rice – just 20 years of age – it must make such a difference to have someone lie Zabaleta looking out for him and guiding him on his career path. The young England international is very lucky to have Mark Noble, as well, who can obviously give him plenty of advice on playing in central midfield. But in regards to being a model professional, Zabaleta is about as good of an example as Rice could get. The former Manchester City man may be past his best at this point, but his teammates are still clearly over the moon that he’s sticking around for another season.
