---
title: "Pellegrini tips Rice for future West Ham captaincy"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2019/03/03/pellegrini-tips-rice-for-future-west-ham-captaincy/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Turk"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2019-03-03T12:36:13Z"
modified: "2019-03-03T13:05:58Z"
---

# Pellegrini tips Rice for future West Ham captaincy

Manuel Pellegrini has tipped Declan Rice to become West Ham United captain in the future after the 20-year-old pulled off another impressive performance in Saturday evening’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United at the London Stadium.

Rice headed in the opener after just seven minutes and set the tone for a comfortable win on the night, in which he won 69% of his duels playing as the anchorman behind a midfield four.

After full-time, [Pellegrini was questioned](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/west-ham-newcastle-result-final-score-goals-declan-rice-mark-noble-manuel-pellegrini-a8805211.html) about Rice’s credentials to become a future Hammers skipper and the Argentinian manager didn’t exactly reject the suggestion.

> Is he a future captain? Maybe. He is a young player, he must learn a lot, to keep him at this level. To be a captain you need many games behind you, so in the future, maybe he will do it.

It was a special night for West Ham after officially opening the Billy Bonds Stand in honour of the club’s former captain and appearance record holder and Rice’s performance drew comparisons with Bonds back in his prime days.

There’s no denying his quality and if he keeps this form up, it really wouldn’t be surprising to see Gareth Southgate give him a chance to shine for the England national team.