'Vamos!' - England star Declan Rice reveals hilarious message from his Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta ahead of Euro 2024 final against Spain

Rice was asked at a press conference ahead of Sunday's final if he had heard from Arteta since the semi-final win over the Netherlands set up a showdown with Spain in Berlin.

Arteta is Spanish and was polished in Barcelona's famed La Masia academy as a teenager, also racking up junior international caps for Spain at various different age groups. But he has a vested interest in his Arsenal players who are representing other countries too. As well as Rice, Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale are in England's squad this summer.

"I've spoken to Mikel, he's been great," Rice explained. "We had a phone call the other, we were speaking for about 10 minutes. That was good, it was nice to speak to him – I hadn't spoken to him since the end of the season, so that was really nice. Then, he texted me the other night saying 'Vamos!', when we got to the final. I'm sure he's going to be split, obviously because he's Spanish, but he's got boys in the [Arsenal] squad who are English as well. It's a tough one for him but he did wish me all the best, so I was happy with that."

Aside from managing England players at Arsenal, Arteta himself has lived in the country consistently for almost 20 years, having first joined Everton in January 2005. He then went straight from hanging up his boots with Arsenal in 2016 to coaching at Manchester City, returning to north London three years later. Arteta also had two years at Rangers in his early playing career, which means he's actually spent half his life in the UK.

After the final, whether England win or lose, Rice faces a potentially quick turnaround. Arsenal's pre-season training begins the very next day, and while the midfielder will need at least a couple of weeks off to rest after playing a whole international tournament, he will want to be back with the squad before the 2024-25 campaign begins for real. But with the Gunners playing three tour games in the United States before the end of July, it is likely he (and Saka) will only return for home friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon at the Emirates Stadium next month.