The versatile youngster has shown some encouraging signs for West Ham this season.
After making his senior West Ham United debut last season, Declan Rice was heavily involved in the early stages of the current campaign as he featured in the club’s first four Premier League games.
Since then, however, Rice has had just 14 minutes of Premier League action, which came in the draw with Crystal Palace in October.
The 18-year-old, who can play as a centre-back or a defensive-midfielder, has remained part of the squad since David Moyes replaced Slaven Bilic as manager and was an unused substitute for the games against Watford and Leicester City.
There is a growing clamour amongst West Ham supporters for Rice to become a regular in the side and, if he is patient enough, the prospect could well fulfil that ambition under Moyes’ guidance.
Composed in possession and excellent at making precisely-timed challenges, Rice is a player with vast potential, even though it must be acknowledged that he is still rather raw and can lose concentration at times.
The Republic of Ireland U21 international is a fine prospect, however, and certainly deserves to be used by Moyes as a substitute when the opportunity arises.
Rice perhaps isn’t quite ready yet to be a regular starter for West Ham but if he continues to work hard in training and seizes any opportunities he is afforded then he could well gives Moyes something to think about.
West Ham face Arsenal away in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup next month and Rice is likely to feature in that fixture, which would certainly give him an opportunity to catch Moyes’ eye.
There is a possibility that he could replace Pedro Obiang in midfield or Angelo Ogbonna in defence on some occasions and the future is certainly looking very bright for Rice.
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