West Ham are fortunate to have a number of promising young centre-backs at the club currently and hopefully in the near future they can break into the first-team for good.
We’ve already seen Reece Oxford and Reece Burke play a number of games for the first-team in the last 18 months but Declan Rice appears to be the next along the West Ham conveyor belt.
The 18-year-old signed his first professional contract with the club back in the summer and was named in a first-team matchday squad for the first time on Boxing Day for the 4-1 win at Swansea which came as a shock to him.
“I wasn’t even supposed to go in but I got a text to say I was going to be in [training] Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and on the bench Boxing Day,” Rice told whufc.com.
Despite being linked with a move to Arsenal, Rice remains focussed on progressing at West Ham following his maiden trip with the first-team and he eyes a spot on the field in the near future.
“It was an amazing feeling because I had my family up in the stands and even though I didn’t get on it was great to be a part of. I’ve got to keep playing well and progressing and then hopefully I can get on the pitch.”
West Ham have three senior centre-backs in the squad in Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins but Slaven Bilic has always been one to give youth a chance and should injury strike he appears to have the confidence in Declan to throw him into the action.
