Adrian Durham raved about West Ham enforcer Declan Rice and claimed he was jealous of Hammers fans due to the player.
The talkSPORT host claimed that everyone should want a player like Rice at their club as not only had he risen through the club’s academy but he seemed like a really sound lad who enjoyed playing for the Hammers.
“Right y’know what I’m jealous of West Ham fans, Declan Rice is one of their own, very good, watches his goals on the big screen, he laughs at his own celebrations when he sees them on big screen as well and he just seems like a really sound lad,” said Durham on talkSPORT (Monday, March 4th 18:01).
“I wanted Declan Rice at my club, we all want a Declan Rice at our club don’t we?”
Durham despite heaping praise on the Hammers 20-year-old then appeared to crack a joke at his expense by questioning how long he will stay at the London Stadium given that he didn’t stick with the Republic of Ireland very long.
“How long is he going to be there? He wasn’t at Ireland very long so how long is he going to be at West Ham?” added Durham (18:17).
OPINION
Durham clearly believes Rice is a great player but he’s not thrilled that the 20-year-old is a rare breed. It’s not often that young home-grown players are given an opportunity to regularly feature at a Premier League club despite it being something that most supporters enjoy seeing. Rice joined the Hammers at a young age from Chelsea and has defied the odds to effectively be the heart of the team before he hits the age of 21-years-old. While The 20-year-old, who is playing as a midfield enforcer this season, deserves so much credit for seizing his chance, Manuel Pellegrini also deserves praise. Most managers don’t like gambling on young players and other bosses would have yanked Rice out of their team upon his first bad performance. Rice struggled in the Hammers’ Premier League opener against Liverpool but that didn’t stop Pellegrini handing Rice another chance and being rewarded for doing so.