The Declan Rice debate continues.
Declan Rice made headlines yesterday when he scored the winner for West Ham in their derby against Arsenal, putting the icing on an accomplished midfield display.
Add to this the recent rumours that for Irish underage international is reportedly a target for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and it’s safe to say the midfielder is having a good time at the moment.
He was the subject of a lot of hype after he made three appearances in friendlies for Ireland, but he is yet to play a competitive match. As such, he is eligible to declare for England, the country of his birth.
Rice faces a decision on his international future with both England and Ireland hoping to get him in their squads, with Mick McCarthy recently revealing he’s held discussions with England manager Gareth Southgate about Rice’s future.
His West Ham teammate Michail Antonio was a guest on Goals on Sunday, and was asked about the international future of his teammate.
“It’s a difficult situation because I can’t put myself in his shoes,” Antonio said on the show.
“I’ve spoken to him about it. He’s got a bit of loyalty to Ireland because obviously he’s played through the younger ranks so he’s got that bit of loyalty to them, but when England come knocking, it’s hard to ignore.
“I think he’s doing the right thing by taking his time and thinking about his situation.
“But I believe that it doesn’t matter who he picks, he’s going to be playing for either team. In the position he’s in, at the age of 19, he’s going to be 20 tomorrow, I don’t think there’s much people better than him in that defensive, holding position.”
When quizzed on Rice’s best position, Antonio said: “I would say holding midfield is his best position because he just breaks everything up. If a full-back goes up, he’s able to go out wide to deal with it. He can play right-back.
“Do you know who he reminds me of? [N’Golo] Kante and Claude Makelele, those types of players, up there, are what he reminds me of because he completely breaks things up and gets the team ticking.”
