David Moyes
David Moyes has warned any prospective suitors for Declan Rice that they have missed the chance to get him for the ‘sale’ price of £100million.
David Moyes said: “Maybe people don’t have enough to write about. That might be where that comes from, I don’t know. But look, I can’t do anything about what people write about Declan Rice. I can’t stop that, except say to them that you will need humongous money to get close. That’s what you would need to do. They can write all they like, but he’s here for certainly a few years. I said in the summer that I thought Declan Rice was £100million. That was the sales, that was cheap, that was your chance to get Declan Rice cheap.”
With over 1,000 games in management under his belt Moyes has worked with many fantastic footballers and the Scot rates his vice-captain amongst the most talented.
David Moyes said: “Declan Rice is right up with some of the best players I’ve certainly had. It’s his potential as well to get better because of his age. There’s a potential for him to improve and mature better because of his age. “When you’re 23 years old and you’re playing a number of games, there’s a lot of room for that to improve. If you look at the England squad in the Euros who lost in the final, it would be hard to suggest that Declan Rice hasn’t played as well as any other England player since those finals. He’s under contract and we’re really pleased to have him. He’s like a special edition Declan Rice, there’s not many like him. For me, he’s arguably playing as well as any midfielder player in European football. Special edition means that there are very few people like him out there. It’s like buying something that there aren’t many of them. He is a special, special edition, a special player and for me he is probably the best midfield player in Europe at this present time.”
Earlier in the week, Rice revealed that his pre-match preparations involved eating the same meal before every game, sea bass and rice, quite the change since Moyes’ playing days. Not that the manager minds.
David Moyes added: “[I ate] beans on toast or scrambled eggs. The football world has changed and who knows what they do so you just smile and get on with it. By the way, if he keeps playing the way he is playing he can eat as much sea bass as he likes!”
