Declan Rice’s meteoric rise continued as the West Ham United midfielder received his first call-up into the England senior squad.

Rice decided to turn his back on a chance to represent the Republic of Ireland and instead chose to join Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions side.

The England manager has thrown Declan into the squad to face the Czech Republic and Montenegro later this month.

On his inclusion Southgate said this about the young midfielder (Via The Guardian):

“His form warrants it,”

 “It’s been a well-publicised situation with Declan. We’ve tracked him for quite a while … His form has been excellent. We like what we see.”

In fairness the England boss is right. Declan Rice has shone for The Hammers in the Premier League this season. The youngster has been one of the best holding midfielders in England’s top flight this term.

West Ham are currently inside the league’s top half and Rice has excelled playing regularly in the team’s engine room.

According to stats website Whoscored, Rice is the sixth best player when it comes to making the most tackles per league game as he makes on average 3 tackles per ninety minutes.

The twenty year old also has a strong passing success rate of 85.2% and on average he makes around 45 passes per game.

As a defensive type midfielder you are expected to win the ball back and Rice does that for The Hammers. As well as making his 3 tackles per league appearance, Declan also makes 1.4 interceptions and 1.7 clearances. He’s also pretty decent in the air and has won nearly 2 headers per Premier League game this year.

As he has began to start more games, Declan Rice produced some very mature performances. He allows players like Robert Snodgrass, Mark Noble and Felipe Anderson more time to shine in forward areas as they know he’s in behind them sweeping up any mistakes that may happen.

In the last few decades Manchester United have been a club that are constantly snapping up the best young British talent.

To be honest, I think they should earmark Rice as a potential signing.

Current midfield duo Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera aren’t getting any younger.

United have looked very strong since interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken control of the club and he, like legendary gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson before him, has benefited big time by trusting younger talent.

United have always been at their best with a core of young British stars leading the way. Having a player like Declan Rice in the boiler room spoiling things for the opposition would suit this current Man United team down to the ground, in my opinion.

Then there’s the versatility that Declan would bring too. As I’ve already said, Rice has been brilliant as a holding midfielder but his aerial ability and his smart tackling could make him a natural centre-half too. Big clubs like Man Utd love having versatile players within their pool.

The great news for West Ham Utd is that they managed to tie down the youngster to a new five and a half year contract just a few months ago (Source – The Independent).

Thus meaning that they hold a lot of the cards when it comes to a potential transfer. If they don’t wish to sell the player then they don’t have to or they could ask for a huge fee if they decide to cash in on the talented youngster.

I’m not even sure Declan Rice would be in a hurry to leave The Hammers. He’s featuring regularly and seems to enjoy playing for The Irons.

So any potential transfer wouldn’t be guaranteed but Manchester United should at least test the water if they want to sign a top class, young English talent that could improve their squad for years to come.

Posted on March 13th, 2019 by scott
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