West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has heaped praise on young starlet Declan Rice after his phenomenal performances this season.
The 20-year-old has emerged as a key cog in the Hammers machine this campaign, and Pellegrini has been absolutely thrilled with his development.
“He has become a big player for us and he has a massive future,” he told the Daily Mail. “He is a mix of technical ability and power and he can play as a holding midfielder, as a midfielder or even a central defender. He always wins his physical duels. He commits very few errors with his passes.
“Right now, Declan is leading by the way he is playing. He doesn’t talk because he’s still young but he shows leadership on the pitch with his performances.”
OPINION
This has been a massive season in the development of Rice. He has gone from being a promising youngster to the jewell in the Hammers’ crown. As Pellegrini says, he leads by the way he plays. He has never been less than a 6/10, and most weeks that mark is up towards the 8/10 range. Even when West Ham get blown away, as they have been on several occasions this season, the club’s supporters seem to come away saying ‘the only decent one was Declan Rice’. Obviously Pellegrini appreciates that, because he doesn’t hand out praise like this very often. He might be mistaken when he says Rice doesn’t talk, though. There have been multiple occasions this campaign where the cameras have shown him barking orders at his team mates and getting his fellow players into position. Perhaps behind the scenes he doesn’t shout and scream at everyone, but on the pitch he seems to be pretty vocal for a young man.