David Moyes says Declan Rice could be ‘future England captain’ as Man Utd and Chelsea target continues to shine
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Updated 07/02/2022 at 22:17 GMT
As West Ham prepare to welcome Watford to the London Stadium on Tuesday evening, David Moyes has urged his midfield talisman Declan Rice to learn from his England team-mates as he looks to improve his game even further. With Manchester United and Chelsea rumoured to be interested in Rice, Moyes has previously said that a potential bidder would need to offer ‘humongous money’ to sign him.
Declan Rice has spearheaded West Ham's push for Champions League football this term
Image credit: Getty Images
David Moyes has said that Declan Rice could be “a future England captain”, urging his midfield talisman to look to his international team-mates as he tries to improve his game even further.
Rice has been one of West Ham’s most influential performers this season as they have climbed to fifth in the Premier League. While they have lost their last two league matches on the bounce, following up with a narrow win against National League North side Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup, they have a good chance to regain some momentum when they welcome struggling Watford to the London Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Speaking ahead of the game, Moyes talked up Rice’s importance to the team and passed on some advice to a player who, for all his maturity on the pitch, is still only 23 years of age.
“As an individual, Declan Rice is a really improving young man who’s gaining a lot of experience and getting better,” Moyes said.
“He learns an awful lot from Mark Noble. He should look at Harry Kane and Harry Maguire and all the senior players he’s involved with with England and take as much from them as he can, because he’s got a great chance of going on to become a future England captain. He should look at them. We’re really pleased to have him, and he’s a really impressive young man.
“He’s a really important player for West Ham. He’s someone we value greatly, and you can see what he means to the team. He’s a really good individual and we’re enjoying having him.”
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Rice in action for England in the autumn
Image credit: Getty Images
Rice’s performances have seen him linked with Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City, but Moyes made light of the ongoing transfer speculation last week.
“Maybe people don’t have enough to write about,” he said. “That might be where that comes from, I don’t know. But look, I can’t do anything about what people write about Declan Rice.
“I can’t stop that, except say to them that you will need humongous money to get close. That’s what you would need to do. They can write all they like, but he’s here for certainly a few years.
“I said in the summer that I thought Declan Rice was £100 million. That was the sales, that was cheap, that was your chance to get Declan Rice cheap.
“Declan Rice is right up with some of the best players I’ve certainly had. It’s his potential as well to get better because of his age. There’s a potential for him to improve and mature better because of his age.
“When you’re 23 years old and you’re playing a number of games, there’s a lot of room for that to improve.
“If you look at the England squad in the Euros who lost in the final, it would be hard to suggest that Declan Rice hasn’t played as well as any other England player since those finals.”
Meanwhile, Moyes was also bullish about West Ham’s chances of securing Champions League football this season. Despite losing their last two games to Leeds and Manchester United, the latter are still only one point ahead in fourth.
“I’m glad that people are talking about West Ham being in the challenge for the top four,” he said. “That says something about where we’ve come to.
“Even last year, we were probably never talked about in those terms. We were probably talked about making a run for Europe.
“It shows there’s been improvement and we’re making some strides. We need to keep playing really well. We’ve got 15 league games to go and we have to keep playing well.
“The first one’s against Watford tomorrow evening, where we hope we can take three points and keep going and keep hanging onto the shirt tails of the teams above us.
“The team have played really well for long periods of the season. We’ve had little bits of ups and downs throughout the season, but no more than anybody else.
“I’m looking forward to challenging again throughout the second half of the season.”
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