Declan Rice
West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has opened up on becoming the Hammers’ new captain after becoming the successor to long-term club legend Mark Noble. Speaking about being named as the West Ham captain by Hammers boss Moyes, Rice admitted it was a huge honour, admitting he never thought he would become club captain when he first joined the club’s first-team five years ago.
Declan Rice said: “He [David Moyes] let me know that I’m going to be captain of West Ham United this season. It’s an honour. When I came into the team five years ago, I would never have thought I would be West Ham Club Captain one day. To take it from Nobes as well, it’s very special. Yeah, definitely! I feel like it’s a dream to be the captain of a football club. Any football club, it’s an absolute honour, and now I get to captain West Ham. With the history behind West Ham, it’s special.”
Alongside Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), and Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rice is one of five current Premier League captains regularly called up to the England side. Of the quintet, Rice is the youngest by some way and in the same interview, was asked about whether he would be interested in succeeding Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane as the Three Lions’ captain when he retires from the international fold.
Declan Rice added: “I feel like that is the pinnacle of football, captaining your country. But I’m still so young and we’ve got a great captain in Harry Kane. He’s still got many, many years left of playing in an England shirt and I’m sure there is so much more he is going to want to achieve. But, one day, if he retires and I’m still in the squad, I’d love to be up there. I’d love to be England captain one day.”
