Declan Rice has claimed that the criticism aimed at Chelsea’s Mason Mount is ‘harsh’ amid continued comparisons with Aston Villa’s star man Jack Grealish, as he told England’s press conference.
The West Ham United player believes ‘every other Premier League manager’ would pick Mount if they had the choice, as he labelled both players as ‘talents’.
Grealish played off the left for England on Thursday, whilst Mount played in a two-man midfield, as the Three Lions recorded a quite comfortable win against the Republic of Ireland.
Even though the highly-rated Villa and Chelsea stars play in different positions, comparisons are still being made of the two, as Rice shared his thoughts on the matter.
“No, we don’t speak about it [on the criticism Mount gets on social media],” said Rice. “But like you said there, I think it’s very harsh.
“I witness it here when I train [with England] and I have witnessed it as a kid, so I know what his mentality is like and how hard-working and driven he is. And it’s no surprise that Gareth picks him and Frank picks him.
“If you have every other Premier League manager the chance to pick him then they would pick him as well because if you see day-to-day what he gives to the team as an individual then he’s a top talent, so definitely I think the criticism is very harsh.
“If you look at Jack and you look at Mase then there is always going to be comparisons. But they are pretty much playing in two different parts of the pitch. Mason now at Chelsea is playing as an attacking eight and Jack’s playing off the left.
“I think you could see the other night that they can both play in the same team, for sure and I think they are both great players that we should be valuing. For the nation, for somebody like me who gets to play with these players, we are lucky we get to play with such talents.”
Grealish started his career on the left-hand side before playing a midfield role as Villa worked their way back into the Premier League from the Championship.
But with a lack of depth and quality out wide for Villa last season, Dean Smith opted to push his main player out wide and he has remained there since.
In the meantime, both Gareth Southgate and Frank Lampard have used Mount more centrally, but as Grealish found last season, where he was being compared to James Maddison, a similar debate is now starting up with the Stamford Bridge academy product.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
