OPINION
Declan Rice is fast becoming the must-have midfielder in the Premier League.
Pundits have been queuing up to compare him favourably to Tottenham’s Eric Dier with both players in the England set-up this week.
First, it was Chris Sutton who said that Rice has “more to offer” than Eric Dier or Jordan Henderson.
Then it was Liam Rosenior on Sky Sports, who said that while Dier’s form has been poor this season, Rice would be the key man for England moving forward.
Rice, reportedly on £30k-a-week, is only 20-years-old and he’s already being talked about in the same breath as Man City’s Fernandinho.
In fact, Man City have been heavily linked to the young powerhouse, with the Sun claiming that he was on top of their wishlist in a blockbuster £70million move.
However, Man City could be banned from signing anyone over the next two windows and that could leave the door open for Tottenham to steal in and nick him from under Pep’s nose.
Tottenham will invest in the summer – they have to. And, with Mousa Dembele gone and Dier not up to the job, Rice would be the perfect player for Mauricio Pochettino. He’s got Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko but a deep-lying midfielder like Rice, who has played at centre-back, would be the player who could propel Spurs into genuine title contenders.
Daniel Levy must try and make it happen in the summer. Rice won’t be cheap but he would be worth every penny and could take Tottenham to the very top of the game.