West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has taken to Instagram to post footage of him training with Sheffield United ace John Egan.
The 20-year-old is currently on holiday but took some time to put in the hard yards with the 26-year-old defender, who helped the Blades regain their top flight status last season.
The two played together for the Republic of Ireland before Rice decided to pledge his international future to England.
Rice uploaded footage to his personal account of the pair running on a beach alongside the hash tag: “Don’t be rusty, be ready.”
OPINION
It’s perhaps not the most orthodox thing in the world to be putting in the graft with a Premier League rival right before the start of preseason, but Egan and Rice have history, and the young Hammer seems like such a sound guy that you can’t imagine him sacking off his mates just because they happen to play for a rival. Rice and Egan will no doubt come face to face on the pitch at some point in the coming season, and when that happens, all friendship will be put to one side. But for now, with clubs just beginning to prepare for the new campaign, where’s the harm with a bit of downtime with some mates? Above anything else, fans should just be happy to see Rice putting in the work needed to come back peak condition, and who knows, maybe if Egan has a breakout year in the top flight Rice can act as a bit of sleeper agent to take his pal with him to east London.
