Pundit Danny Murphy believes Declan Rice has to leave West Ham next summer in order to maximise his potential.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five podcast, Murphy said: “I speak to Dec a lot and his dad and he’s so ambitious. It’s not, ‘I’m desperate to leave’, but the reality is, I think last year, last summer when people spoke about him leaving, I think (David) Moyes spoke to him, West Ham spoke to him and said, ‘do another year’.
“I think they’ve said to him, ‘we’ll let you go this summer’. I think the reason’s he’s saying that in his press conference because West Ham, depending on if they get the right amount, they’ll want a decent chunk. But It’s time for him to go, he’s got to go.”
Murphy also believes Rice should change his role and attack more in order to utilize his skillset.
“The interesting thing about Declan, I’ve been speaking to him recently and people will disagree. But I think, and I know he’d like this more, he could be a really devastating box-to-box player and get goals. I think he could get double figures in goals, imagine him in a City side with Rodri behind him then him and De Bruyne for example.
“West Ham are not a possession-based team, he has to sit in more because [Tomas] Soucek bombs on and goes forward, he’s restricted and the occasion West Ham are desperate and you see him bursting forward last 10-20 of games, it’s an unbelievable sight how he goes past people, he’s got that give and go’s around the box – he’ll get double-figure goals.
Been saying that for long time good luck to him.