Former England international Danny Mills has told West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice that he needs to leave the club if he wants to win trophies.
The 20-year-old has become one of the hottest properties in the Premier League, an England regular, and someone who has caught the eye of several big teams. Sky Sports pundit Mills feels he should move on.
“People at West Ham know that there’s interest from other clubs over the course of the summer, but he’s stayed where he is for now,” he told Football Insider. “He’s a very, very good player with a very bright future.
“[Can he be a Premier League winner?] If he moves club. Let’s be honest, he’s not going to win the Premier League at West Ham any time soon. If he wants to go and win something, he’s got to move club. Whether that be abroad or the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool – they’re the ones obviously at the moment – maybe a Chelsea comes strong at some point. Just have to wait and see.”
OPINION
Look, no one is saying that West Ham are going to win the Premier League any time soon, but that doesn’t mean Rice should leave the club. Plus, the league isn’t the only trophy available to teams. There’s no reason why Manuel Pellegrini’s side couldn’t win the Carabao Cup or FA Cup this season or in the years to come. They have some really top class players, Rice included, so it’s ludicrous to say that he needs to leave to win trophies. There’s very much a possibility that he could do that at the London Stadium. Yes, his chances of silverware would increase if he went to a bigger team, but he’s only 20 years of age, there’s no rush to leave the Irons. Obviously there’s been interest in him before and it’s been rebuffed, which has been the right thing to do from a West Ham perspective, but they will be realistic about their chances of keeping him. They’ll surely know it’s unlikely and so will just want to get as much money as possible for him when the time comes. But Mills should keep his mouth shut, because he’s borderline suggesting Rice should engineer a move away.
