RICE COY OVER SUMMER MOVE BUT SAYS: I LOVE THIS CLUB TO PIECES

they will celebrate with an open-top bus parade through the streets of east London tonight.

Captain Declan Rice struggled to contain his emotions as he said afterwards: ‘It means everything. I’m still in shock. I absolutely love this club. They have taken me in as one of their own.

‘I am just so happy. My family have been with me every step of the way. The ups and the downs. I have been on the right track because of them and they are here to celebrate with me. I would do anything to make this club win. To win this now is another level.’ On his future, Rice said: ‘There is a lot of speculation. There is interest from other clubs, that’s out there. But ultimately, I’ve still got two years left at West Ham. I love this club. I love playing for this club.

‘There hasn’t been anything yet. My focus is on playing for West Ham, enjoying tonight, and seeing what happens. I’m captain of this club. I absolutely love it to pieces. I cannot speak highly enough of this place. Let’s just see what happens. Let’s wait and see. Who knows?’

After Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi’s head had been cut open by a plastic pint pot thrown by a West Ham fan, Said Benrahma’s penalty opener was cancelled out by Giacomo Bonaventura. With extra-time looming, Bowen clinched the Europa Conference League trophy. Moyes said: ‘This is fantastic. I’ve had a long career in football and you don’t get too many nights like this.

‘This is a brilliant club in the East End of London that does brilliant work in the community. It’s a big family club and it’s getting better, stronger. We’ve got a 60,000-seater stadium that we’ve filled all season. It’s an incredible achievement for a football club to be growing like that. Tonight’s another step on the road of progress, continued progress.

He added: ‘The moments you get to celebrate with your family and win in the last minute of the game, it doesn’t happen often. It is a brilliant feeling. ‘If somebody had said three years ago when I took the job that you’d avoid relegation and finish in Europe, I would have said they were mad. This competition has been great for us, the players have been remarkable.’ Match-winner Bowen added: ‘I thought I was going to cry, I’m just so happy. To do what we did tonight, to give the fans this moment, I’m over the moon. ‘I said leading up to this that this is the biggest game of my career. I thought it was going to extra time and there was time for one more chance. We won it for everyone. It means so much.’