Tottenham forward Harry Kane heaped praise on West Ham enforcer Declan Rice and revealed he was a big fan.
The Spurs attacker shared that he liked the fact the Hammers midfield enforcer was someone who looked to play the ball forward rather than worry about their pass completion rate.
“I think what I like most about him is that as a defensive midfielder he looks to play forward as quick as possible and sometimes nowadays you see people/players just play it side to side and backwards and look good, their completion rate looks good but with Declan his first thought is to go forward,” said Kane on BBC Radio 5 Live (Tuesday March 19th, 19:19).
“Pass it through the lines and on the defensive side of things, he has that centre-back instinct to break up play and read the game, knows when to drop in and help the defence so like I said I’m a big fan of him and I like the way he plays and who knows if he gets his chance, I’m sure he’ll be ready.
Kane was then asked whether he thought Rice will end up playing in central defence rather than as a holding midfielder.
“I’m not too sure, I spoke to him a little bit about it and I think he enjoys where he is now,” added the Spurs forward.
“He said he don’t mind playing either but I think in football nowadays you have to be versatile and he can do a job, he’s able to play there which is great for a team to have players who can play in different positions.
“But yeah he probably prefers playing defensive mid as he can feel like he can play forward with the ball a bit more from there so yeah, from my point of view he’ll probably stay in that position for the rest of his career.”
OPINION
It seems Rice prefers to play as a defensive midfielder based on what he told Kane, but that he is open to playing as a centre-back. It makes sense that Rice’s preferred position is in midfield as just like Kane stated, Rice is a player who loves to play the ball forward when possible. However the 20-year-old clearly doesn’t want to rule out featuring as a centre-back for his club or country, as he just wants to ensure he gets playing time. Rice has been a revelation in midfield for the Hammers this season as he has been consistently one of Manuel Pellegrini’s top performers. Normally a young player’s form is like a rollercoaster ride but that hasn’t been the case with Rice. If the 20-year-old can keep excelling for the Hammers and wow for England if given an opportunity to feature, then you feel that the world is at his feet. The Hammers will be hoping that Rice is at the London Stadium for the long haul like his current contract suggests but you do feel the likes of Manchester City and other big clubs in Europe will be lurking over him.