OPINION
Many West Ham fans should be salivating over the future of Declan Rice as Manuel Pellegrini has handed the 20-year-old the perfect blueprint for success.
The Hammers boss revealed he is encouraging the 20-year-old Hammers midfield enforcer to study Chelsea star N’Golo Kante in order to improve.
“All the good players in Declan’s position must see Kante and see the ways in which they can improve,” Pellegrini said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“I think he’s a top player. When he was at Leicester he demonstrated the way he can play and since then he has grown because he came to a more difficult team.
“Now he’s a complete player. He recovers the ball, doesn’t lose the easy pass. He can arrive into the box and can score goals.”
The fact Pellegrini wants Rice to replicate Kante’s style and technique should excite Hammers fans as that is exactly the sort player he should be aiming to resemble.
Just like the Hammers boss explained the 28-year-old is the complete player as not only does he offer his side an extra layer of protection in midfield due to his defensive sills, he is able to be a force going forward and chip in with a goal or two.
Also Kante is able to dictate the tempo of games to favour his side through his passing ability and this is something Rice should aim to do as that would see him run the Hammers’ midfield.
At the moment Mark Noble is the midfielder who dictates the tempo but with him being no spring chicken, the 20-year-old needs to take up that mantle sooner rather than later.
Yet if Rice is able to learn several important lessons from studying Kante from afar then not only will his future look even brighter, his place in the Hammers’ midfield will be secure for many seasons to come.
