Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane and ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright have disagreed in their verdicts over West Ham United captain Declan Rice.
Rice made his 31st club appearance of the season on Wednesday night as he led out the Hammers for their FA Cup fifth round tie at Old Trafford with Manchester United, where despite West Ham taking the lead in the second half through Said Benrahma, three goals in the final 13 minutes from Nayef Aguerd (own goal), Alejandro Garnacho and Fred sealed a quarter-final spot for Erik ten Hag’s side.
There has been widespread speculation throughout this season that this will be Rice’s final season at the London Stadium, with the Hammers’ captain being heavily linked with a summer transfer exit, with Arsenal and Chelsea among the clubs linked.
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However, former Red Devils captain Keane, who made 480 United appearances between 1993 and 2006, said that Rice has not been good enough this season to warrant such a move, adding that he needs to score more goals and provide more assists to become a top midfield player.
“He has first got to focus on West Ham and doing well for the rest of the season, but I don’t think he has been great this season,” Keane told ITV. “I don’t think he has kicked on for all the talk there has been about him - he needs to do a lot more.
“He doesn’t score enough goals or get enough assists. I have been a fan of him, he is always fit, but I just want a little bit more from him. There is talk of him leaving for big money and competing with teams for trophies, and he needs to do a lot more, it is as simple as that.
“Sometimes I see him play at West Ham, and he goes through the motions and he needs to do a lot more to match the top midfielders in the country.”
His thoughts were certainly not echoed by former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright. Not only did he think that what Keane said about Rice was harsh, but he felt that the midfielder is more than capable of playing at a higher level, having impressed at the 2022 World Cup for England before Christmas.
“Wow,” Wright replied. “I think it is a bit harsh. He had a good World Cup and yes, he is playing in a team that is not great - and of course him being a focal point he is going to get a lot of attention.
“But I do feel as though he is ready to go to that next level because I think he is one of our best.”
Keane then went on to further criticise Rice’s performance based on Wright's comments, with the former Sunderland and Ipswich Town manager adding that in his opinion, the Hammers captain does not stand out in the West Ham team, which would not make him worthy of a big money move.
Keane added: “But I think it’s better to play well in a bad team. To me, he doesn’t stand out in a bad team, which is a worry.”
Also on ITV’s punditry for the game was West Ham academy graduate Joe Cole, who played 187 times for the Hammers across two spells between 1998 and 2003 and 2013 and 2014.
Cole believes that Rice remains committed to having as strong a season as possible, with West Ham fighting relegation as well as being in the last 16 of both the FA Cup and Europa Conference League prior to the Old Trafford defeat.
“Every time I talk about Declan Rice it is always about his future,” Cole said. “West Ham are in the FA Cup, the Europa Conference League and for me, Declan will want to put that to bed and sort it out in the summer.
“He has got a year left on his contract and it will have to be spoken about. I don’t think it is distracting him because when he is on the pitch, that is when you can do your thing and calm down.
“At West Ham he is the poster boy so he just needs to concentrate and focus. The game tonight, this is the game you want to play in. If you are Declan Rice you want to drive this team and try and compete against one of the best teams in Europe at the moment.”
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