Mark Noble West Ham
West Ham icon Mark Noble has hailed the ‘phenomenal’ Manchester United target Declan Rice. The Hammers stalwart said his London Stadium farewell following their 2-2 with Manchester City. But his successor, Rice, faces increased pressure over his future in East London. United are eager to add to the heart of the midfield, with Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba set to leave, and have been long-standing admirers of the 23-year-old. Manager David Moyes has previously slapped a £150m price-tag on the England international.
Mark Noble said: “I’ve always tried to give him good advice and try to be honest with him as a player. Dec for me, I’ve said a million times over, he’s not just one of the best players in world football, he’s a better person than he is a player. The way he treats my kids, gives them the time of day but the biggest respect I can give to him is the other day after the Man City game I had 120 guests at the game in a lounge, all my close friends and family. He was the last one to leave and he stayed and I said ‘Dec, you’re going to get driven mad in here’ and he stayed and he give my family the time of day. I text his Dad later that night and said Dec’s a true credit to you and your family because not many people would do that. Already in his young career, he’s had the England/Ireland thing he had to deal with, he’s had a lot of press lately about football clubs and all that but he just wants to play football. For what he’s done for us in the last two seasons has been phenomenal, not only us but for the national team as well. Me sitting on the sidelines and watching from afar, I’m just excited and proud to see what he can do in the game.”
