Former West Ham central defender Jose Fonte has stated that Declan Rice ‘deserves all the credit’ for his career development.
The experienced Portuguese centre-back, now at Lille, was a teammate of the 22-year-old at the London Stadium for a brief period during the 2017/18 season.
In fact, Rice made an early Premier League appearance as a second-half substitute for Fonte in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
That outing was Rice’s first showing as a defender for the Hammers – one of 16 so far in his career.
On punditry duty speaking to talkSPORT Breakfast, the 37-year-old discussed the Englishman’s development into a leading midfielder.
Everybody acknowledged that he had the potential to go all the way. He was just trying to break in at the time [I was there]. You know, he used to be a centre-back. I didn’t expect him to be a midfielder and when he started to play consistently in the midfield and doing so well it was kind of surprising because at centre-back he was great. I already said that as a centre-back he had a future, so it’s fantastic for him. I’m so pleased for Declan, he’s such a great professional, a hard-working player, and a good kid. He deserves all the credit that he’s getting.
Fonte made 24 appearances for the Irons before moving to DL Yifang in China.
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It’s true, Rice’s pathway from fledgeling centre-back to barnstorming midfielder has been a joy to watch.
Seemingly adding more to a well-rounded game all the time, the 26-cap England man is now adding goals as well.
Despite so far only netting five times in 138 league outings, already this season Rice has scored twice and provided two assists – a sure sign of an advanced role in David Moyes’ side.
