Declan Rice has been compared to Roy Keane by a number of pundits and former players as the West Ham midfielder's stock continues to rise.
Jamie Carragher said late last year that Rice's performance against Everton reminded him of Keane.
He told Sky Sports: "I watched Declan Rice against Everton and I gave him man of the match. Jamie Redknapp was talking before the game about the price tag of Declan Rice, people were saying it could be £80m, £90m, £100m, but Jamie was saying he needs more goals and assists.
"I understand that if you're paying that type of money, but the way I watched Declan Rice at Goodison reminded me of Roy Keane.
"I've never judged Roy Keane on goals or assists, or Patrick Vieira, or any of those top midfield players. That was his performance against Everton - running the midfield, having a presence, punching away passes like Roy Keane used to, running forward at times with or without the ball.
"Every time Everton attacked, he always seemed to be the guy there to stop it - it was a brilliant performance, I'm a huge fan of his."
He added: "It was reminiscent of when I used to watch Roy Keane at his best, in that holding role but still driving forward from these positions. And what impresses me the most is that final pass, sometimes you can get tired and lose your legs and let yourself down with that final pass.
"He was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch and with the stats, it's evident that he was. I mentioned after 15 minutes, Everton have got to do something about Rice, he was absolutely running the game. They never did and that's why West Ham were deserved winners."
West Ham coach Stuart Pearce echoed those comments earlier this year and even claimed Rice is a better player than Keane was at his age.
He told talkSport in January: "Every game he takes the field the expectation from me [is that] he needs to be the best player on the pitch, in every game.
"He’s got the tools to do that, the stature to do it. He’s got everything. He is an absolute pleasure to work with at this place. He drives us in midfield.
"I was sat next to [West Ham coach] Billy McKinlay at the weekend and he said to me: ‘Is he as good as Roy Keane at the same age?’ I said I think he is probably slightly better.
"We had Roy at Forest with us before he moved on to Manchester United and I’d have to say he is slightly better than Roy. Whether he’ll have the career that Roy had… it is all there for him though."
Back in 2018 when Keane was Martin O'Neill's assistant with the Republic of Ireland, he rubbished suggestions that Rice could switch allegiance from Ireland to England.
He said: "It's going to be pretty difficult as he's Irish.
"Where else would he want to go?
“If you had to choose Ireland or England, it is pretty straight forward, isn’t it? Ireland.”
But less than a year later Rice switched to England to the annoyance of Ireland fans and undoubtedly Keane too after he had made three appearances in friendlies for the Boys in Green.
Incredibly, Rice claimed he had made the decision to switch to England after cheering them on at the 2018 World Cup.
He said: “Honestly, the World Cup was buzzing… I was actually in Dubai.
“There was a massive football fan zone with a massive dome and it was crazy. It was mental.
“I remember watching the Panama game, the Tunisia game, the Sweden game. It was incredible.
“The singing before the game, the national anthem. Just being a part of it. I was a fan for that tournament. So, to be part of this tournament [Euro 2020] is unbelievable.”
And now Rice is in contention to become England's captain.
Manager Gareth Southgate explained after England's 2-1 win over Switzerland over the weekend: "He is right amongst that despite his age.
"What I have seen this season is the confidence that he has gained from his experience last summer. I think he had a huge impact on the game when he came on.
“A really mature performance, strong, breaks the game up so well, but now has more confidence to drive with the ball and bring it forward as well. Without a doubt he has all the attributes to be a captain.
"There will be others, but we are gaining the rewards of the opportunities we had to blood him so young.
"The initial Nations League campaign and playing against the Dutch in the semi-final of that. They were the biggest games of his life at that time. He is now getting European experience with his club as well and all of those things are starting to come together.”
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
