Alex Beard

Thu 16 January 2020 10:51, UK

West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice is a controversial figure in English football, we see that every time he’s on international duty.

For some, he is a top class prospect who can operate effectively at centre back and in holding midfield.

But for others he’s a safety-first fraud who has been pumped up by his advocates as something he’s not.

talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham is more in line with the first camp, thinking the 21-year-old is a very good player, but he does have a problem with him.

“The issue I’ve got is he stayed at West Ham,” he said on talkSPORT. “That was a mistake, because look at West Ham now.

“Another change of manager – they’ve been appalling this season. He should’ve left West Ham, it’s just not a good fit.

“He’s too good to be slumming it down the bottom of the table. He’s too good for West Ham. He should’ve left last summer, and so he’s got to leave this coming summer.”

Is there a legitimate point in all this rabble?

Well, Durham seems to be in an awful rush to secure Rice a big move considering the youngster only just turned 21. It’s not like he’s 28 years of age running out of time to play for an elite club.

However, he is too good to be playing down near the bottom of the Premier League table, but so are several Hammers stars. Should they all be demanding moves next summer?

The idea that the Irons are suddenly not a good fit for Rice because the team’s had a poor first half of the campaign is absurd.

In other West Ham news, it’s thought that there’s a strong chance that the team will sign a Championship midfielder this month.