'He's exceptionally gifted' - Sky Sports man blown away by West Ham ace on 'a new level'

Sky Sports presenter Joe Thomlinson has been speaking on the Football Daily YouTube channel about how West Ham United’s Declan Rice has taken his game to another level.

Rice is now being a leader on the pitch having ousted Mark Noble for the starting role in the majority of games, and has seen himself captain the Hammers into the quarter-finals of the Europa League and go within three points of the top four.

Rice has seen himself continuously linked with a move away from West Ham as he continues to thrive at the London Stadium, but now his manager David Moyes has claimed that £150m wouldn’t see the midfielder leave this summer.

Thomlinson believes that it would be near impossible to replace Rice because of how important he’s become over the last few seasons while also being impressed by his development this campaign.

He said: “He’s exceptionally gifted, not only off the ball, but on the ball now, it appears, like he’s really taken this game to a new level. So who replaces that output?

“Because you’ve got to find somebody who does all the defensive work, carries the ball into the opposition third, he’s the captain of the side – that is such a difficult player to replace.”

TIF Thoughts on Rice…

The Hammers midfielder is still under contract until 2024, so it’s no surprise that Moyes doesn’t think £150m is enough given that Rice ranks second for the most yards racked up when carrying the ball as well as proving his worth at the other end of the pitch, winning the most tackles within the West Ham squad (as per FBRef).

It has been reported that Liverpool are interested in Rice’s services this summer and they may well look to fund such a move by selling one of Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane, who are both out of contract next