Rio Ferdinand tells Declan Rice to leave West Ham United live on BT Sport
Rio Ferdinand has told Declan Rice to leave West Ham in the summer if he wants to win trophies, comparing his current situation to his own back in the early 2000’s.
Rice has been linked with an exit away from the London Stadium this summer, with all of the top clubs in the country linked with a move for the 24-year-old captain.
And speaking on BT Sport (11 February) ahead of their 1-1 draw with Chelsea, Ferdinand said that the fans will understand him wanting to leave the club in the summer just like they did when he left for Leeds back in 2000.
“You could say West Ham, stay here and have a career like Mark Noble,” he said.
“But the fans will hate me for saying it – I was a player in his shoes once here at West Ham, quite identical in many ways, and I wanted to win things.
“I wanted to do that at West Ham and it wasn’t possible, I wanted to win things and the fans respected that. He’s got enough in the tank here, done enough in his time here, for the fans to respect any decision that he does make.
“I think with Rice, he’s still got levels to go in his game. He’s still a young player and I think he does a job very, very well here at West Ham, but I think whether it’s here or elsewhere, there are other parts to his game where he’s still looking to develop himself, but will be extracted by a good coach as well.
“I don’t think he needs to improve, he just needs to add to it. We saw in the Europa League last season his ability to drive and change the dynamic of a game, and can do that with passing as well.
“The more he improves that ability to get forwards and I think he adds goals to his game as well, and if he can do that you don’t know what he can be.”
Respect
Respect is a two way street and there is no doubt that Rice has earned the respect of every single West Ham fan out there.
But all this talk of a transfer away from the club doesn’t need to happen right now in the middle of a season where he and the rest of the team have underperformed to the point that we’re in a relegation battle.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a Hammers fan who genuinely expects Rice to still be at the club next season, with the calibre of club linked and the player’s own comments this season, but the talk doesn’t need to be constant.
When the season is over we will entertain all the chatter about his inevitable exit, and we’ll set our price and stand on it until someone pays, but until then lets leave the chat behind.
West Ham have got a lot to play for this season, and the last thing we need is Rice to be distracted by his next move while he’s still wearing the claret and blue.