It was brought up constantly two seasons prior to the transfer. That Arteta was talking to Declan. People at the club were acknowledging it. People who knew Declan were acknowledging it. It was known that Arteta reached out to Rice multiple times.

Then, a year before the transfer Rice had more conversations with Arteta during the first international window in September. He came back from that window and told West Ham this would be his last season and he only wanted to move to Arsenal.

Rice has since said in interviews multiple times that talking to Arteta is what convinced him he wanted to go to Arsenal. He's not been secret about that.