West Hams soon-to-be new Director of Football and club legend Mark Noble has spoken of the clubs desire to retain the services of captain Declan Rice.
Rice is quite rightly considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, and at only 23 years of age, is still developing further. His recognised status within the game though brings much speculation surrounding his long-term future, with many of the biggest clubs around the globe being huge admirers of his undeniable talents.
West Ham though have always maintained that Rice isn’t available as we look to continue to build a team around Rice that is capable of achieving success in East London. Noble though concedes that this summer is likely to being with it a lot of rumours although he hopes West Ham are able to convince the England midfield star to stay longer.
“We hope we can keep him,” Noble told talkSPORT. “Signing players like Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca, that brings hope you can then keep your best players. Declan has 2 years remaining on his deal at the end of the season, we hope we can keep him.”
Noble confessed that Rices abilities are there for all to witness within the club and that he even has more developments to go as he is always learning and striving to improve.
“If you see first hand,” admitted Noble. “You’ll appreciate just how good he is. He can get even better. He’s not fussed about money.”
Noble is commencing his new role formally at the start of next year, and many fans are hoping his return to the club will provide a much needed boost after what has been a testing season so far, much to everybody’s surprise considering the outlay made this summer.
We face Leicester City tomorrow in a must-win match, with the visitors set to provide a stern test for David Moyes’ Hammers having turned their fortunes around in recent weeks. The West Ham Way is hosting a Pre-Match Event prior to the game with Kevin Keen as special guest, who’ll give us the insights of what is happening at the club at present.
