Born in Kingston Upon Thames on January 14th, 1999, Declan Rice upset the football odds by becoming a Premier League star despite being released by Chelsea, aged 14.

Soon after, West Ham’s academy took a chance on the rangy midfielder, with Rice earning the role of club captain and earning a spot in the England squad. However, he earned a mega money move to Arsenal in the summer of 2023 - with the Gunners forking out an estimated £105 million to sign him.

 
Per year €14,511,385 £12,477,977
Per month €1,209,282 £1,039,831
Per week €279,065 £239,961
Per day €39,757 £34,186
Per hour €1,656 £1,423
Per minute €27 £23
Since you've been viewing this page, Declan Rice has earned
 


Rice, now one of the highest earning players at the Emirates Stadium, has been a revelation since arriving at the club and he has been key to Arsenal's title challenge. How highly is he hated and can he lead the Gunners to Premier League glory? Only time will tell.

How Much Is Declan Rice Worth? 

Presently, Rice earns an estimated £250,000 a week at Arsenal and that figure would make him one of the highest paid players in the Premier League.

Going off his current salary, that equates to £12.4m a year, while it has been estimated elsewhere that his net worth is a staggering £26 million. This figure is only an estimate though, with no exact knowledge of his wage and earnings from endorsement deals.

That figure incidentally, does not include hefty bonuses for goals scored and relegations avoided.

With Arsenal bang in contention to challenge for the title, Rice could be in for a nice bonus come the end of the campaign if the Gunners clinch the Premier League crown.

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In addition to his earning power on the pitch, Rice has agreed to several lucrative commercial tie-ins with companies keen to be associated with a player whose popularity extends beyond Arsenal's fan-base.

He has an exclusive deal with Adidas, promoting them via his Instagram channel, and has previously appeared in advertisements for Sports Direct. 

Having invested wisely in property – including a sprawling pad in Chigwell, Essex that he shares with his long-term partner Lauren – Rice comfortably has a fortune in excess of £10m.  

Declan Rice West Ham Move

Growing up a Chelsea fan, Rice looked up to the Stamford Bridge superstars of that era, including Juan Sebastian Veron and his childhood hero Frank Lampard.

A decade on however, one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the country positively bleeds claret and blue. Or at least he did prior to joining Arsenal in 2023.

Having forged a close relationship with the Hammers fan-base, Rice was the obvious choice to inherit the captain’s armband from club legend Mark Noble and his influential and committed performances were admired by one and all at the London Stadium.

Twice he was voted West Ham’s Young Player of the Year. Twice he has won their Player of the Year. 

Prior to his move to Arsenal, Rice insisted he was happy to remain a Hammer, putting in weekly displays that has led to his manager describing him as a ‘great ambassador’ and ‘leader’. 

Declan Rice England

After controversially switching his allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to England early in his career, Rice has subsequently become a pivotal part of Gareth Southgate’s national set-up, his manager’s first-choice even amidst some stiff competition. 

Making his England bow in March 2019, Rice has seamlessly transferred his bossing of centre-circles at club level to the international stage and his form and fitness is key should the Three Lions have any hope of lifting the World Cup aloft at Qatar 2022.

Declan Rice Girlfriend

Declan Rice has dated childhood sweetheart Lauren Fryer for eight years, with the couple beginning their relationship in 2016 after meeting at school.

The couple are in a happy relationship and share 20-month-old son Jude, but Fryer and Rice have both received disgusting abuse online over her appearance.

This has resulted in Lauren Fryer deleting all images from her Instagram page, with cyberbullying first starting in December 2023 - less than six months after Rice joined Arsenal.

With comments stating that Rice 'could do better' and 'he has low standards', it's hardly a shock that Fryer has opted to remove her social media posts.

Lauren has 64,000 followers on Instagram but has kept her profile public rather than switching to a private account, and she has received support from several celebrities - including Love Island and reality TV star Liberty Poole.

Here's to hoping that the trolls leave Fryer alone in the coming months and the two can enjoy raising Jude in a loving, committed relationship.


*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*

April 24, 2024

By Alex McMahon

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Alex is a sports betting tipster, specialising in Premier League football, the Champions League and horse racing.

He loves placing a weekly accumulator on the football at the weekend and dreams of landing the big winner that will take him back to Las Vegas.

As well as writing sports betting tips for 888sport since 2015, Alex has produced content for several international media companies, such as Goal.com and The SPORTBible. 
 

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This Euro 2024 Group C match between Serbia and England will take place on Sunday 16th June 2024 at 8pm (BST).

The game will take place at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, the home of FC Schalke 04 which has a capacity of 50,000. This stadium notably hosted the 2004 Champions League final and the 2006 World Cup quarter-final.

Match Preview & Prediction

The group will get underway a couple of hours before this game as Slovenia take on Denmark in the earlier kick-off. 

Serbia enter this Euro 2024 competition for the first time since 2000 (As Serbia & Montenegro), this is the first European tournament that Serbia have qualified for as an independent nation.

The Eagles will be looking to get out of this group with the players they have, group winners might be a tough ask but I think Dragan Stojkovic’s side can definitely fight for that second place, Denmark should be the team up there with them.  

England head to the Euro 2024 Championships in Germany after an unbeaten campaign in the group stage, the Three Lions shared a group with Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta, despite being favourites to qualify, doing so without losing a game is always a good confidence boost when heading into a major tournament. 

Gareth Southgate’s side were losing finalists at Wembley three years ago (delayed Euro 2020 tournament), beaten on home soil to Italy on penalties, it was a frustrating end given many England fans thought this should have been their time, so close to a trophy for the first time since their 1966 World Cup win, will this England team finally give their supporters some glory?

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The Three Lions head to Germany as one of the favourites to win the lot, I’m expecting them to get out of this group without any problems, leaving the remaining three to battle it out for the second automatic place into the round of 16.

Therefore, I think we’ll see England get a victory here but given it’s the first game for both sides, it’ll not be straight forward and England will be hoping they can control the game from the start and get themselves into a good position heading into their second game against Denmark just four days later.

Serbia vs England History

This is the first time these two nations have met at senior level, England did face Serbia and Montenegro in Leicester in a friendly back in 2003, but they’ve never met whilst Serbia have been an independent nation.

The English came out victorious with a 2-1 win in a game which England boss Gareth Southgate participated in. 

England v Serbia Betting Odds

The sports betting odds have England as the favourites to get their campaign off with a victory, at the time of writing, England are currently 1/2 to take all three points.

Serbia will be looking to cause a couple of upsets along the way in this competition, they are currently 5/1 to get their campaign off to a winning start.

Click here to find the latest odds for this fixture!

Serbia Squad Euro 2024

Goalkeepers

Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Torino), Dorde Petrovic (Chelsea) and Predrag Rajkovic (Mallorca).

Defenders

Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Strahinja Pavlovic (Red Bull Salzburg), Filip Mladenovic (Panathinaikos), Srdan Babic (Spartak Moscow), Milos Velijkovic (Werder Bremen), Uros Spajic (Red Star Belgrade) and Nemanja Stojic (TSC).

Midfielders

Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Dusan Tadic (Fenerbahce), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al-Hilal), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Sasa Lukic (Fulham), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Mijat Gacinovic (AEK Athens), Ivan Ilic (Torino), Srdan Mijailovic (Red Star Belgrade), Lazar Samardzic (Udinese) and Veljko Birmancevic (Sparta Prague).

Forwards

Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al-Hilal), Luka Jovic (AC Milan), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus) and Peter Ratkov (Red Bull Salzburg).

England Squad Euro 2024

Goalkeepers

Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace) and James Trafford (Burnley).

Defenders

John Stones (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Jarrel Quansah (Liverpool) and Jarrad Braithwaite (Everton).

Midfielders

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Connor Gallagher (Chelsea), James Maddison (Tottenham), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace) and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid).

Forwards

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Ivan Toney (Brentford) and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

England and Serbia Euro 2024 Predictions

Here are my Euro 2024 predictions for these two nations.

Serbia – I think Serbia will qualify from this group, I have them to finish second and if that’s the case, they will likely come up against Germany in the Round of 16.

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It’s a game which might be a step too far in this campaign but they’ll definitely give a good account of themselves. Round of 16 for Stojkovic’s side.

England – They should top this group, they’ll then play the third-placed team from either Group D, E or F, in which they should be victorious.

We could see a repeat of the Euro 2020 final in the quarter-finals and it’s likely England could meet France in the semi-finals, the winner of that will win the competition in my opinion.

In terms of the Euro 2024 odds, the Three Lions are currently 11/8 to reach the final.


*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*

April 23, 2024
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Sam (Footy_Tipster) is a sports betting tipster, specialising mainly in football although he has also been known to provide tips in Formula One. He has been running an online football tipping service for the past 10 years and continues to grow his community, with a social media following of over 30,000 sports fans. 

 

He is a keen Manchester United fan and a below average darts player, he doesn't know which is more frustrating.

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The battle to reach the promised land of the Premier League is a tough one but here are five clubs I'm hoping can defy the odds to regain promotion to England's top flight in the near future...

5) Preston North End

The last time the Lilywhites were in the top-flight Tottenham won the double. That’s how long ago it was. Spurs were successful.

Since then, they’ve bounced around the divisions, spending a large number of years in the second tier but also plummeting to the fourth rung during a particularly grim period in the Eighties. In that regard they are less a ‘sleeping giant’ and more a once great club comatose. 

Which is a genuine shame because historically Preston carry significant weight. 

A founding member of the football league, they were the original Invincibles, winning the inaugural season in imperious style along with the FA Cup to boot.

Currently stuck in mid-table in the Championship, Preston will hope to return to the topflight later this decade. 

4) Derby County

Now languishing in League One, the Rams have given English football stonewall legends such as Steve Bloomer, Hughie Gallagher, Raich Carter and Dave Mackay.

They won two league titles in the early Seventies and have been managed by the incomparable Brian Clough.

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Exiting the top-flight in 2008 after enduring a record-breaking miserable campaign that saw them priced as dead-certs to drop in the Premier League betting just a handful of games in, Derby would be welcomed back with open arms for their legacy alone. 

Financial issues left the club in a prolonged period of turmoil, but they are working their way back to where they feel they belong. 

3) Portsmouth

Pompey certainly have the illustrious history, winning back-to-back league titles in the late-Forties.

According to legend they first wore red socks at the suggestion of Field Marshal Montgomery, to honour the fallen of the Second World War.

But really, it’s all about the fans. That’s why we want them back where they belong, competing among the elite and scaring them witless every time they travel down to a packed-out, ferocious Fratton Park. 

After having their heart and soul ripped from them via terrible ownership that promised the world, they have secured promotion to the Championship for the 2024-25 season.

2) Sunderland

The Mackems’ downfall has been fairly recent, the North-East giants residing in the Premier League up to 2017. 

Since then, their veering from calamity to crisis, and back to calamity again has made for a gripping documentary, one that painfully illustrates the game’s cruel streak.

Having bounced back from such adversity, Tony Mowbray’s young side lost to Luton Town in the 2023 Championship Playoffs. The 2023-24 season has been a frustrating one, with the Black Cats a long way off promotion contention.

1) Sheffield Wednesday

After defying football betting odds and avoiding relegation from the Championship in 2023, Sheffield Wednesday have again been embroiled in a battle against the drop in 2023-24. 

We would expect nothing less from a club that for many years now have been specialists in snatching struggle from the jaws of hope.

The second oldest club in world football have won the league four times, last doing so in 1930, but it is fantastic teams forged in more recent times that explains why so many neutrals want them to recover. 

Their entertaining side of the early-Nineties, featuring the likes of Waddle, Sheridan and Bart-Williams holds a special place in a lot of hearts. 


*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*

April 23, 2024

By Stephen Tudor

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    Stephen Tudor is a freelance football writer and sports enthusiast who only knows slightly less about the beautiful game than you do.

    A contributor to FourFourTwo and Forbes, he is a Manchester City fan who was taken to Maine Road as a child because his grandad predicted they would one day be good.

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    • International cricket umpires have an average annual salary of over £70,000

    • Cricket boards provide plenty of courses for aspiring umpires to get into the role

    • Payment varies on the format, but international umpires also benefit from a plethora of perks 


    Regular followers of cricket betting tips will be used to seeing the same cricket umpires. Perhaps you’ve wondered about their salary and how they get into such a high-pressure job.

    Even with the use of DRS in international cricket, it’s vital that umpiring standards are high. Poor decisions can ruin the sport as a spectacle. Even with technology, it can become painful viewing.

    How much do you know about the life of an international cricket umpire? What salary do they make? Which qualifications do they need?

    These people are so often in the spotlight, but they do not get the same adulation as the players they are tasked with overseeing.

    If you’re keen on cricket in sport betting online, you’ll hear endless discussions about umpiring decisions. So, let’s take some time to look at their earnings, and what they had to do to reach the elite level…

    Cricket Umpire Salary Revealed

    An elite international cricket umpire receives a salary of around £72,000. They are paid somewhere in the region of £3,500 for a Test match, and around £2,200 for a One-Day International. Some umpires are believed to earn over £100,000 per year. 

    Obviously, the pay for a T20 international is lower still. It might be the glitziest event in cricket betting, but the shortest format also means a maximum of 40 overs in the field for umpires.

    Compared with the five-day slog of Test cricket, a T20 should be an easy day out for umpires.

    The ICC also hands out a bonus of around £7,200 for the best umpire every year. Umpires can obviously live comfortably on their base salary, but they have an array of perks of the job, including expenses for travel, hotels and food.

    The umpires hog the on-screen time in international cricket. Fans, though, will occasionally hear a reference to the ‘match referee’, who oversees the contest and will deal with any disciplinary issues.

    There’s just a seven-man group of Elite Panel Match Referees. Their salary is about £35,000. According to Sporting Free, the match referees receive roughly £2,000 for a Test match and £1,100 for an ODI.

    How To Become A Cricket Umpire

    The ECB provides a clear pathway for aspiring umpires to follow. Starting out with the introductory course, the ECB website makes it easy to apply for and find the courses nearest to you.

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    Working through stages one, two and three, umpires can enhance their skills, enabling them to work at the top level of club cricket.

    That’s where the journey to becoming a cricket umpire gets trickier. Years of experience must be accrued before the leap to county cricket is possible, and even then, the battle for places is fierce.

    Just like with club cricketers wanting to feature in the County Championship, there are only so many places, and umpires must be among the best in the country to progress to the county level.

    Other nations have a similar set of requirements to make the step to professional umpiring. In Australia and India, umpiring development is in the hands of each state, who will run the courses and examinations.

    Active Elite Panel Of Umpires

    Cricket fans will be used to seeing familiar faces officiating international matches. It takes a certain level of experience, skill and training to oversee matches in the largest cricket stadiums in the world.

    Here are the members of the Elite Panel of Umpires as of August 2021:

    • Christopher Gaffaney

    • Kumar Dharmasena

    • Michael Gough

    • Adrian Holdstock

    • Nitin Menon

    • Paul Reiffel

    • Richard Illingworth

    • Richard Kettleborough

    • Ahsan Raza

    • Rodney Tucker

    • Joel Wilson

    • Sharfuddoula

    Famous Cricket Umpires

    Cricket umpiring has changed greatly in the last couple of decades. The arrival of DRS, and the surge of T20 cricket has altered their role.

    Overseeing matches involving teams on the IPL winners list is now the best route to umpiring fame. It’s also a lucrative avenue for umpires, just as it is for players.

    Kumar Dharmasena, a star of the 2019 World Cup Final, is one of the most famous active umpires. Rod Tucker is the longest-standing Elite Panel Umpire, having been appointed in 2010.

    Diving into the history of the game, Dickie Bird and David Shepherd are the two most well-known English umpires.

    Steve Bucknor, Aleem Dar and Rudi Koertzen would be widely recognised, too. They are the three men with the most Test matches umpired since the Elite Panel was created.

    Koertzen had his trademark slow-raising of the finger. Bucknor’s nod of the head meant the end of your innings. When it comes to memorability, though, no one can match the quirkiness of Billy Bowden.

    Cricket Umpire Salary FAQs:

    How much do IPL cricket umpires get paid?

    Payment for IPL umpires depends on experience and standing.

    Elite Umpires receive around £2,000 in basic salary per match according to The Daily Hunt, but this is heavily boosted by a much larger payment from the sponsors at the end of the tournament.

    Richard Illingworth, Paul Reiffel, and Christopher Gaffaney were three of the Elite Umpires at the 2021 IPL.

    The basic salary for the Development Umpires is roughly £600. Again, this is supplemented by money from the sponsors upon the completion of the IPL.

    What do ICC umpires make for a Test match?

    ICC umpires are paid in the region of £3,500 for working a Test match. Elite level umpires generally stand in eight or more Test matches per calendar year.

    These, of course, will take place all over the world. Being an ICC umpire comes with plenty of perks beyond the standard salary, including travel and accommodation.

    What qualifications do you need to become a cricket umpire?

    Cricket boards around the world will require an exam to be passed before allowing you to become a professional umpire. It will take years of studying and experience before it’s possible to make this step.

    Of course, there are sometimes fast track routes for former players and people already involved at the highest level of cricket.

    The English Cricket Board has various options for those looking to get started as an umpire.

    Each country takes responsibility for training and educating umpires, though international umpires take a refresher course with the ICC every few months.


    *Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*

    April 23, 2024
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    Sam is a sports tipster, specialising in the Premier League and Champions League.

    He covers most sports, including cricket and Formula One. Sam particularly enjoys those on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean – notably MLB and NBA.

    Watching, writing and talking about sports betting takes up most of his time, whether that is for a day out at T20 Finals Day or a long night of basketball.

    Having been writing for several years, Sam has been working with 888Sport since 2016, contributing multiple articles per week to the blog.

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