Manchester United legend Roy Keane heaped praise on the club’s key target for the summer Declan Rice ahead of the game against West Ham United.
In a studio show ahead of the game between Manchester United and West Ham United on Sunday, as quoted by Daily Star, Roy Keane took a moment to hail Declan Rice and the kind of progress he has shown in recent years, even claiming he is better right now than Keane himself when he was the same age.
Declan Rice has come a long way since being a lanky young midfielder who broke into the West Ham United first-team setup four years ago. Since then, the youngster has made considerable progress in his career, becoming a key figure for club and country, after picking England over Ireland a few years ago.
The 22-year-old has started the ongoing season strongly as well, and that has helped in ramping up the interest in his services. As things stand, Manchester United are among the clubs that are keen on signing Rice, with a few other clubs pondering a potential summer move as well.
The praise being heaped on him has not stopped one bit, with Paul Ince recently claiming that Manchester United and Rice would be a match made in heaven. And now, Manchester United legend Roy Keane has had his say on the matter of the 22-year-old.
“I think he would [improve Manchester United’s midfield] I think Declan has improved more than any player I’ve seen over the last one or two seasons. I know he’s been linked with Manchester United. If you said to me a year or two again I’d have said no, let him stay a year or two to mature. He’s 22 and I look to where I was, I think he’s way ahead of me when I was 22.”
“I think the next step will come to him when he plays a higher level and when I say higher level I mean for Manchester United, Champions League, competing for trophies. He’s obviously a regular for England, big pluses for him is there’s a lot more to come from him.”
“He’s obviously a regular for England, big pluses for him is there’s a lot more to come from him. I’m not a big fan of the Manchester United midfield lads I think they’re a bit short so we’ll see how he does against them.”
Keane’s comments are spot on in that Declan Rice would be a top-class addition to the Manchester United first-team setup. Rice was most recently in fine touch when Manchester United beat West Ham on Sunday and it goes without saying the Red Devils would benefit by making a move for the 22-year-old sooner or later.
