Chris Sutton thrilled by West Ham star Declan Rice ahead of EUROs

Chris Sutton has been blown away by West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice in the Premier League this season.

The England international captained the Irons to the Europa League against all odds, as no one expected that success.

Gareth Southgate is set to rely on Rice in midfield, with Jordan Henderson not at his peak fitness levels ahead of the tournament.

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Writing in his Daily Mail column, Sutton rated Rice as an 8/10 and ran out of superlatives to describe his efforts in the past year.

“The protector, or ‘CDM’ as the kids call it now,” he wrote.

“Can put out fires with his impeccable positioning and now better at carrying the ball.”

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Star man.

England have a squad packed with attacking talent, although the team for the EUROs is packed with defenders and attackers.

Having said that, there may only be one holding midfielder.

With that comes a lot of responsibility, and Rice has proved that he could the perfect candidate to sit deep in midfield and let the others do their jobs.

There will be many different players taking the headlines should the Three Lions do, but much of that could be to do with how Rice performs.

Rice is set for his major tournament, although that won’t shy away from how big of a role he is going to play.

Sutton described our skipper as “impeccable” and that is what he will have to be when we come up against some of the world’s best.

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