West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has told Stan Collymore that he visions himself playing further forward in the future.
The Hammers’ enforcer currently sits in front of the defence for Manuel Pellegrini alongside Mark Noble and filled the same role for England on Saturday evening against Bulgaria.
Collymore shared the conversation on his personal Twitter account and admitted he would love to see an England midfield consisting of Rice, Mason Mount, and James Maddison in the future.
“Chatted to Rice recently and he sees himself playing further forward in years to come,” he wrote.
“Definitely like the idea of him, Maddison and Mount as a 3, fluid, interchangeable, mobile.”
The 20-year-old has become ever-present at West Ham and featured heavily throughout last season, which saw him catch the continued attention of Gareth Southgate.
OPINION
The way that Rice handles himself in the heart of midfield, it would surely be easy for the youngster to settle into a role further up the pitch. Breaking into the England side in the past year only proves his ability to get on the ball more than he might do with West Ham, and start attacks for his team. Rice did struggle slightly at the beginning of the Premier League season with the absence of Noble, but the reintroduction of the captain has seen the star excel once again under Pellegrini. His athleticism to get around the pitch would definitely help the proposed new role, and Collymore is right to suggest Mount and Maddison would make good partners, with those two having the ability to burden the most of the attacking load. The 20-year-old’s main strength is defending though, and he must stick to that right now – having averaged 3.5 tackles and 2.3 interceptions per game so far this season according to WhoScored. Collymore is drooling over the potential future England midfield, with Rice clearly ready for any role that he will be given at the same time.
