Tony Cottee has warned that fans are ‘a little bit angry’ and will boo him when he makes his return to the Stadium.
Rice left the Hammers to join in a £105m move this summer as captain.
He returns to the London Stadium for the first time on Wednesday night .
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta .
Cottee, though, sees things differently and thinks that it will be a hostile atmosphere for Rice in east London.
Asked on if he thought West Ham fans will boo Rice, Cottee said: ‘I think they will.
‘It’s a huge frustration and disappointment as a Hammer. I’ve been there myself. I left in 1998 in a record transfer to Everton.
‘I came back as a player, having been a West Ham fan and at the club for nine years, and I got booed.
‘As a player, obviously you move on and you have to do what’s right for your career, and as brilliant was Declan was and that he lifted that trophy, there will be a frustration and a little bit of anger towards him that he left the club.
‘It’s just part of football and that’s how it is at West Ham. They are very, very loyal and they don’t want you to leave.’
