Rio Ferdinand lauds West Ham star Declan Rice amid Manchester United rumours
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes that West Ham young midfielder Declan Rice should leave the club amidst interest from some of the top clubs in the country.
The England international has been attracting interest from the likes of United and a few other big names in the country.
While speaking on the Five podcast as quoted by Metro, Ferdinand claimed that Rice wouldn’t spend his entire career at one club like Mark Noble.
“It all depends on what Declan Rice wants to do with his career,” he said.
“If wants to do a Mark Noble and stay at one club in the Premier League – Declan Rice will be the captain for the next ten years if he wants.
“It’s there if he wants to do that. But I don’t think Declan Rice is Mark Noble. Declan Rice is someone who sees himself going to a bigger club, with all due respect to West Ham, and going to fight for honours in the Premier League.”
“If he does go to somewhere like United, (he could) be the catalyst for the next generation, for winning stuff, and you could lead that charge. But if you want to win trophies right at this moment, there is a big question over that.”
Vital cog in the wheel
Rice, who is West Ham’s academy product, has made 167 senior appearances for the Hammers ever since being promoted to the senior team in the summer of 2017.
Rice’s reliable presence in midfield was key to West Ham finishing seventh in the Premier League and going deep in the Europa League — where they were defeated by eventual champions Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-finals.
Apart from Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are also reportedly interested in signing the 23-year-old.
He rejected West Ham’s last contract offer, who are keen to make a permanent part of his future plans, and is keeping his options open as he continues to attract eyeballs in the transfer market.
It must be noted that Rice has two years left on his current deal and it has been widely reported that manager David Moyes will not let his star midfielder leave West Ham for less than £100 million in the summer transfer window.
In other West Ham news, View: a key West Ham man has humiliated himself with a series of off the mark rants.
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