Declan Rice has been ‘in touch’ with some of his former West Ham teammates, hoping for a huge favor from his old club on the final day of the Premier League season.

Arsenal needs the Hammers to take points off Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to have any chance of ending their 20-year wait for a Premier League title.

Sitting two points clear at the top of the table, Man City knows that victory over David Moyes’ side will clinch a record-breaking fourth successive title.

However, if Man City slips up and Arsenal wins their final game against Everton, the title will be heading to north London for the first time since 2004.

Declan Rice is desperate to cap a hugely impressive first season at the Emirates Stadium by lifting the Premier League trophy and has been ‘in touch’ with his old West Ham teammates ahead of their trip to Manchester.

“I think he [Declan Rice] was in touch with the English boys, but he didn’t text me! He’s an Arsenal player, so he cares about Arsenal and about their performance,” West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal told Sky Sports. “I haven’t been in touch with anyone at Arsenal, so they have their own fight and we have ours.”

Coufal also revealed he has been flooded with motivational messages from Arsenal supporters as West Ham looks to spoil Man City’s title party and send Moyes off in style.

The Czech Republic international said: “I have been offered free coffee for the rest of my life! I have many Arsenal fans around me. My son is playing football, so I have big Arsenal fans there. 

“I received some messages from them like, ‘Your first goal in the Premier League is coming!’ and stuff like that. It would be really nice, but we will see.”

“I’m really excited, to be honest. I can’t wait to see the Premier League trophy for the first time, so I’m really excited, and hopefully it’s going to be a very good game.

“It’s nothing better than to have an option to decide the Premier League title. We are not contending for the title, but we can decide it, so that’s good.

“It would be a great story if West Ham can disrupt Manchester City’s hegemony. They can be the first team to win it four times in a row, so it would be nice to stop it.”

History is certainly not on Arsenal’s side, as no team has ever failed to win the Premier League having sat on top on the final day.

Manchester City’s record against West Ham also suggests Arsenal will fall short with the Sky Blues unbeaten in their last 16 league games against the Hammers, who have lost 15 of their 17 league games at the Etihad.

On the task facing West Ham, Coufal added: ‘It’s probably one of the toughest places to play football.

‘I know we don’t have a good record there – I would say a very bad record! But this streak has to finish sometimes, and why not on Sunday?’

Moyes, meanwhile, insists the thought of doing a favor for his former player is not in his mind ahead of the Premier League finale.

‘No,’ was the Scot’s emphatic response when asked whether he was thinking about doing Rice a favor against Man City.

‘Everybody here loves Declan and remembers him but we’re not doing it for Declan. We’re doing it for ourselves, do the best we can.’