Rio Ferdinand has boldly advised Declan Rice to follow in his footsteps and leave West Ham, risking the wrath of their fans.
Rice, 24, is set to be the subject of a bidding war between some of the Premier League 's biggest clubs when the summer transfer window opens. After succeeding Mark Noble as West Ham captain and starring for England at the World Cup, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all said to be battling for the powerful midfielder's signature.
Manager David Moyes recently claimed that it'd take 'a new British transfer record' to prise Rice away from east London, and Ferdinand believes that should happen this summer.
As another product of West Ham's youth academy, the former England international walked away from Upton Park in November 2000 to join high-flying Leeds. His £18million move to Yorkshire was a British record at the time and made him the world's most expensive defender, as well as moving him up the football ladder.
Now Ferdinand, who went on to enjoy a trophy-laden career with Man United after signing for another record sum, has suggested that Rice do the same. "You could say West Ham, stay here and have a career like Mark Noble," he began on BT Sport.
"But the fans will hate me for saying it - I was a player in his shoes once here at West Ham, quite identical in many ways, and I wanted to win things. I wanted to do that at West Ham and it wasn't possible, I wanted to win things and the fans respected that. He's got enough in the tank here, done enough in his time here, for the fans to respect any decision that he does make."
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Chelsea are among the interested parties and club legend Gianfranco Zola has given Rice his seal of approval. "I like him very much, I am a big admirer because he can do both phases of the midfield," Zola explained. "He can defend and get balls back, using his physicality to do that, but also when he has the ball he is always looking [forward] and he doesn't lose the ball easily."
Ferdinand also went on to say: "I think with Rice, he's still got levels to go in his game. He's still a young player and I think he does a job very, very well here at West Ham, but I think whether it's here or elsewhere, there are other parts to his game where he's still looking to develop himself, but will be extracted by a good coach as well.
"I don't think he needs to improve, he just needs to add to it. We saw in the Europa League last season his ability to drive and change the dynamic of a game, and can do that with passing as well. The more he improves that ability to get forwards and I think he adds goals to his game as well, and if he can do that you don’t know what he can be.
