Stuart Pearce has lavished praise on Declan Rice with the West Ham coach once again comparing him to his former teammate, Roy Keane.
Pearce played with Keane during the Irishman's formative years at Nottingham Forest and has made a direct comparison between the former Manchester United captain and Rice when the pair were both in their early twenties.
It is not the first time Rice and Keane have been put in the same sentence, with Keane himself declaring Rice "way ahead of me when I was 22," at the start of the season.
Pearce told talkSPORT: "I have played alongside Roy Keane and you try to compare him [Rice] with Keane, did Keane have that dynamic pace that he has got and the strength, the comparisons he certainly would be up there, there is no doubt about that. It is where [how far] he can go that is the most exciting thing for me."
The former England captain eulogised about Rice's ability to take on players and use his pace to get West Ham on the front foot.
"You see him pick the ball up and someone shuts him down and he drives past them as though they are not there," Pearce said. "And these are Premier League players he is up against and he drives past them, you see people going to shut him down and that five yards of explosion it is as though those players don't get set and they are not ready for it, he moves that quickly over the ground."
Despite his superb performances for the Hammers, Pearce believes there is more to come from the England international, in particular, in an attacking sense.
"He is 6'2, he can get from box to box, he can finish, I think there are more goals in him that will come during his career," he said.
"He is an absolute pleasure [to work with], he is so humble as a young man and that is his biggest forte for me above what he does on the pitch."
Rice's fine form for West Ham has seen no let-up in the rumours that he is destined to move on from the Hammers. However, football.London understands that the club have no interest in letting their on-field captain leave and are not prepared to listen to any offers for the midfielder.
