Pundit: Flynn Downes could be Declan Rice replacement at West Ham United after recent performances
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Flynn Downes could be the ideal replacement for Declan Rice at West Ham after his recent performances for the first team, says Frank McAvennie.
The young midfielder has finally broken into the first-team under David Moyes after joining the club from Swansea in the summer, and has impressed in recent outings at Anfield and in the Europa Conference League.
With Rice’s future at the club up in the air amid transfer speculation and interest from Liverpool and Chelsea, McAvennie feels that David Moyes could be preparing for life without the skipper sooner rather than later.
“I have, I’ve been impressed even with the boy Downes in midfield,” he told West Ham Zone. “He’s in the first-team a lot. Again he got tired when I saw him last week against Manchester United and I’m thinking, they took him off and he’s still a young boy.
“His dad is a massive West Ham fan and he’s in the team now so his family is all proud. It’s a great story. But David has got to develop him as well.
“Now we know he’s good enough for the first-team. He’ll bring him in for a game, then take him out then bring him in. Then all of a sudden like Declan was, he was in and out, then all of a sudden he’s a mainstay.
“So David might be looking at life after Declan and he might be the man. He might be looking at the boy Downes to take over.
“He’s doing well. There’s a lot of boys coming through and they’ve just shown that they’re not scared. Nothing is fazing them. Which again is good.
“The young boy up front, he done very well. So that’s great for the future because strikers are very hard to come by and if you’ve got one who looks good, then developing him will be great.”