David Gold shared that he hoped West Ham defender Declan Rice chose to play for England in order to follow in the footsteps of club legend Bobby Moore.
The Hammers co-chairman shared via his personal Twitter account that he wished for the 19-year-old centre-back to select England as the nation he wanted to represent so that he could eventually captain them just like Moore did.
My hope all a long has been that Declan first becomes an England player and then follows in the footsteps of the great Bobby Moore by becoming the captain of England.
Born in England made in West Ham United. dg https://t.co/Yx8auOlcSF
— David Gold (@davidgold) August 27, 2018
Martin O’Neill confirmed on Monday that Rice was considering declaring himself for England despite having previously won three caps for the Republic of Ireland.
“England have spoken to him. He is taking time to make his mind up,” said O’Neill, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“He has done brilliantly for us. I’m giving him a little bit of time.
“I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say Declan has loved it with us.”
OPINION
It seems Rice is considering making a huge change in direction in regards to his international career and that Gold is very interested in what he decides. The Hammers co-chairman clearly wants Rice to follow in Moore’s footsteps but that would be massively hard for him to do. Moore not only featured over 500 times for the Hammers, he lifted the World Cup with England and it would be hugely impressive if by the time Rice’s career ended he was anywhere near achieving the same legendary status as Moore. However the teenager should probably dream of having a career like Moore as given what he has already accomplished at the age of 19 then why should he rule anything out. Rice surprisingly broke into the Hammers’ first-team last season and was one of the few highlights in a terrible campaign for the club. However this season with all the new summer recruits as well as a new manager to impress, he might not feature as regularly.
