Chris Sutton heaped praise on West Ham enforcer Declan Rice after witnessing him score his first Hammers goal in the 1-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday.
The BBC pundit shared that he had been constantly impressed with the 20-year-old, who has been deployed as a defensive midfielder this season, before sharing he thought the ‘big guns’ would be keen on him.
Sutton revealed that in his opinion the Hammers would face a battle to keep Rice on their books despite him recently signing a new long-term contract.
“When I saw the highlights, he just week-in-week out this season, he is absolutely outstanding and you think, I know he has just signed a new deal at West Ham and is such an important player, that there must be plenty of the really big guns watching him,” said the pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live (Sunday January 13th, as uploaded to the station’s official Twitter account).
“And West Ham will be tested.”
OPINION
Sutton appears to have been blown away by Rice this season with the Hammers player’s display against Arsenal the cherry on the cake. It’s easy to see why the pundit has been impressed as the 20-year-old has arguably been the club’s best player of the season so far. This is because Rice has been consistently good across the majority of his 23 outings across all competitions, with perhaps only the opening game with Liverpool being a disappointment for him. It’s clear that Manuel Pellegrini is getting the best out of Rice at the moment and is really nurturing his talent by playing him in midfield. As for Sutton’s claim that some “really big guns” will be keeping tabs on the 20-year-old, the London club won’t let Rice go without a fight anytime soon. It seems believable that the player’s continued excellent displays will be gaining him suitors but after signing a contract that doesn’t expire until 2024, Rice is going nowhere unless a ridiculously big offer emerges.