Podcaster ExWHUemployee has revealed a fitness update on West Ham United star Declan Rice, who has a ‘virus’ that needs to be monitored.
Over the weekend, the Englishman missed out on his club’s Premier League match against Liverpool – which they ultimately lost 1-0 – due to illness.
Now, while speaking on The West Ham Way podcast, Ex has explained that the bad news is Rice is still not feeling so well, and it will be ‘touch and go’ whether or not he can feature against Sevilla this week.
He said: “Declan has some kind of virus, which needs to be monitored. Apparently, he’s still not feeling great today [Monday], which is not good news.
“It’s not Covid. They’ve done a number of Covid tests, and it’s been proven it’s not Covid. I think Declan’s, probably not within the last six months, but he’s definitely had Covid at some point.
“And I think it’s more like a chest infection with virus symptoms. And obviously, you can’t really play through that. You know what it’s like when you’ve got a real bad temperature and you just feel so run down and lethargic and stuff, there is no way you can play a Premier League game, 90 minutes feeling like that.
“So we’ve just got to hope that he miraculously recovers by Thursday. Because I think at the moment, it’s going to be touch and go whether he’s going to be fit enough.”
TIF Thoughts on Declan Rice and West Ham…
This week, West Ham face arguably their biggest game of the season as they travel to Spain to play Sevilla in the Europa League knockout stages.
No doubt, without Rice, the task will be so much harder. This was evidenced somewhat by the fact that they failed to pick up a positive result away at Liverpool over the weekend without their key midfielder available.
Is Declan Rice worth £100m or more in the current market?
Yes
No
Rice has been integral to the Hammers’ success in recent seasons – which has seen them make it this far in Europe as a result – with the England ace playing regularly in the middle of the park for David Moyes.
If he can overcome his illness, it would be a huge boost. But as Ex reveals, that’s looking truly in the balance for now.
In other news: ‘That’s not true’ – Ex drops big West Ham contract update