Few men in world football are spoken about more frequently than West Ham midfielder Declan Rice right now.
The 22-year-old has been on a rapid upwardly moving trajectory for the past 18 months and is showing no signs of slowing down his development.
Having played a leading role in guiding England to the Euro 2020 final in the summer, Rice has been in superb form for the Irons at the start of the new season.
Following yet another standout performance against Liverpool on Sunday, Rio Ferdinand has joined in those ready to shower praise on the midfield enforcer.
Speaking on his own FIVE YouTube Channel [08/11/21], the 43-year-old has this to say…
He’s arguably been the best midfielder in the country. He has dominated games, he’s played with maturity. The Euros, something’s clicked with him different. His game management, the way he can change the pace of the game at times. When I was at West Ham I always felt I could go to the top and there were more levels in me, and I think Declan probably feels the same. But why’s he going to want to leave West Ham right now? They’re third in the league. For anyone to prise him out of West Ham, they’re going to have to pay big money. That’s the problem that anyone’s going to have now.
The former Premier League winner went on to claim that a club could’ve landed the 27-cap ace for ‘£50/60million in the summer’.
This season Rice has scored three times and registered three assists in 15 appearances across all competitions – already an improvement in direct goal contributions from last term.
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
Although Ferdinand is spot on in much of his assessment, bids of £60million would surely have been laughed off at the London Stadium.
Holding a market value of £63million (Transfermarkt), West Ham would be demanding way in excess of that fee for their prized asset.
As things stand however there is seemingly no reason the Englishman would want to move on, especially as David Moyes’ side sit proudly in the top four.
