Stuart Pearce has suggested that Declan Rice could become an ever better player than Roy Keane was.
The West Ham midfielder has been constantly compared to the former Republic of Ireland captain and continues to be of interest to Manchester United in terms of midfield reinforcements.
Pearce has worked with Rice in his role as a West Ham coach and believes the 23-year-old, who turned his back on Ireland to declare for England, is "up there" with where Keane was at the same age.
But the former England U21 manager belives it's how good Rice could be in the future that is the most exciting thing.
"At his age, 22, I've played alongside Roy Keane," he told talkSPORT.
"You try to compare Roy Keane to him and you think 'well did Roy Keane have that dynamic sort of pace he's got, the strength of him' comparison, he would be up there there's no doubt about that.
"It's where he can go that's the exciting thing for me.
"He's 22 years old at the moment, you see him pick the ball up, someone comes shut him down and he drives past them as though they're not there, these are Premier League players that he drives past them.
"You see him go shut people down and that five yard explosion it's as though the players don't get set he moves that quickly over the ground. He's 6 ft 2", he's box-to-box, he can finish - I think there's more goals to come during his career.
"He's an absolute pleasure, he's so humble as a young man that is his biggest forte for me never mind what he does on the pitch."
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