West Ham United boss David Moyes has said that captain Declan Rice is currently England’s most important player after national team captain Harry Kane.
Rice, who became the Hammers’ skipper in the summer following Mark Noble’s retirement, has been a regular for club and country in recent seasons. He currently has 34 international caps and since his debut, has played in 34 of England’s 45 matches, starting 31 of those and played 538 out of 690 minutes in England’s run to the final of EURO 2020.
Last season, from June to June, Rice played 68 games for club and country, being an integral player for West Ham in their run to the semi-finals of the Europa League and making appearances in 50 of West Ham’s 56 matches in all competitions last year.
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Rice already has played in 11 of the Hammers’ 13 matches in all competitions this term, as well as the duration of England’s games with Italy and Germany last month, only missing both legs of the Europa Conference League qualifying win over Danish side Viborg through suspension.
His quality was required on Thursday night in West Ham’s Europa Conference League win over Anderlecht. With 20 minutes to go, Rice was bought on alongside Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca, with the trio combining for the winning goal in the 1-0 victory, scored by Scamacca.
Speaking on his captain, Moyes praised the importance of Rice and believes that after England’s star striker Kane, who captains the national side, he has labelled Rice as Gareth Southgate’s side’s most important player at present after Kane.
“He’s a great ambassador, for himself and West Ham,” said Moyes. “He speaks so well for someone so young. Part of being a leader is doing that, trying to stand up and show what your worth is.
“But I do think he learns an awful lot when he goes away with England. England have got a fantastic manager and some really top players. It gives him a chance to see how the top people work and manoeuvre.
“I think now, a lot of people are looking at Dec as one of the main boys for England. He’s arguably, after Harry Kane, England’s most important player nowadays. It shows you how far and how well he’s done in a short period.”
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