West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has made a bold claim concerning midfielder Declan Rice and his prospective future international career.
The 20-year old starlet, who was born in England, recently declared his intention of representing England at international level – despite having already played three times for the Republic of Ireland, a country he qualifies for through his grandparents.
With all of his appearances coming in non-competitive games, Rice is able to switch his international allegiance, and his decision and the build up to it has been the source of much contention over the past few months.
In Rice’s statement, released on his Twitter account last week, the young Hammer made clear that while he is now available for England duty, he doesn’t expect an immediate call-up to Gareth Southgate’s side.
However, Chilean coach Pellegrini believes Southgate need look no further than Rice when selecting his squad for upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro next month.
Pellegrini even went as far as to say Rice is better than any other English holding midfielders, as reported by Mirror Sport, saying:
Yes. I think he is ready to play for England and I think that we are just starting the development of him as a player.
But at this moment his performances are better than every holding midfielder. I am talking about the English players.
Maybe there are other foreign players in big teams that are also playing well like Fernandinho but I repeat we are just starting, seeing what will be with Declan in the future.
Rice’s long-term future at the London Stadium had also been a major talking point in recent months, however speculation ended in December when he signed a new six-year deal.
