Liverpool would be able to convince West Ham United captain Declan Rice to sign for the Reds, with the midfielder not against the idea of leaving London in search of his next venture in football.
That is according to transfer insider Dean Jones, who has confidence in the Merseysiders’ ability to prise the England international away from the London Stadium, with the 23-year-old said to be “willing to move up north”.
What’s the word?
According to Football Insider last weekend, Liverpool have a strong interest in the Irons skipper, of whom Jurgen Klopp is a ‘big admirer’.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said: “You can’t rule out a transfer like that. Chelsea still makes the most sense in many ways for Declan Rice, but he is willing to move north. I’ve been told that before, so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem in terms that he would only want to stay in London.”
“One of the world’s best”
In 23-year-old Rice, we are talking about a player who “can be one of the world’s best midfielders”, in the words of West Ham team-mate and former Paris Saint-Germain defender Thilo Kehrer.
The Irons captain has asserted himself at the heart of the midfield engine room and continues to develop his game on an almost weekly basis.
While the 34-cap England international struggled with the attacking side of his game last term, he has already started to address that problem this season. He has created ten chances already in 2022/23, which have helped him to acquire two assists in nine Premier League appearances.
Having started his career as a centre-back, his defensive capabilities are not to be questioned.
The only alteration that Rice would need to make to his game is the amount of pressures he sustains in the middle third and beyond, with Klopp’s teams famed for their ability to win back the ball in advanced areas, but this would likely come naturally under the tutelage of the Liverpool boss.
Landing the much-coveted 23-year-old would be a statement signing by Liverpool, who could make use of further depth in their midfield given the multitude of injuries in that part of their squad.
Under Klopp, Rice could genuinely become one of the world’s best midfielders, fulfilling Kehrer’s prophecy, and he might even be a future Liverpool captain, given his ability to lead by example at such a young age.
