BBC Sport pundit Daniel Gabbidon has been gushing over Declan Rice after the West Ham midfielder reported for international duty with England for the first time.
Rice, 20, sparked controversy earlier this year when he ditched the Republic of Ireland in order to switch allegiance to England, and on Monday, the Three Lions shared a video of the Hammers ace arriving at St George’s Park.
Welcome to @StGeorgesPark, @_DeclanRice! ? #threelions pic.twitter.com/kx923ULPxV
— England (@England) March 18, 2019
West Ham retweeted the video and sent their luck to Rice, while ex-Hammer Gabbidon gushes over the way the midfielder just arrived at St George’s Park like he’s done it plenty of times before.
“Boy just strolls in there like he belongs! Not a nerve in his body,” said the ex-Wales defender via his personal Twitter account on Monday.
https://twitter.com/Gabbidon35/status/1107724867384819713
OPINION
Rice has been sensational for West Ham this season and it is a boost for every single Englishman to have him swap allegiance this year. Gareth Southgate does not have a premium of top defensive midfielders to pick from, with Eric Dier being his go-to choice every time he announces the squad and starting line-ups. However Rice will now add a lot of competition to Dier, who may have to be very worried about his spot in England’s side after some fairly poor performance in the last couple of years. Although he was the hero in the World Cup penalty shoot-out win against Colombia, Southgate should have no issues in axing the Tottenham man for Rice, who has been a cut above most defensive midfielders in the Premier League this season. As Gabbidon said, Rice looked the part when he arrived at St George’s Park for the first time and let’s hope he can become a Three Lions mainstay over the years to come.