FORMER IRELAND AND MANCHESTER CAPTAIN ROY KEANE has claimed that West Ham's Declan Rice needs to show more on the football pitch to justify the hype he garners from fans and pundits in England.
The West ham player has been widely praised for his performances for club and country since making his debut for West Ham in the 2016/17 season.
Rice (24) played the full 90 minutes in the 3-1 FA Cup defeat to high-flying Manchester United on Wednesday and as expected was all action in the middle of the park for the London club.
The England midfielder is set to leave West Ham this summer for a huge transfer fee. A number of big suitors such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City are all rumoured to be in the running for his services.
Keane, who was doing in punditry work for ITV Sport admitted that he wasn't impressed the former underage Ireland star and also went on to say that Rice had to hit another level before the game.
“Obviously he’s got to focus on doing well for West Ham between now and the rest of the season,” Keane told ITV Sport.
“I don’t think he’s been great this season, I really don’t. I think he’s not really kicked on.
💬 “I don’t think he’s been that great this season. He’s not really kicked on… I think he needs to do a lot more. He doesn’t score enough goals and he doesn’t get enough assists.”
👀 Roy Keane on Declan Rice @EmiratesFACup | @WestHam pic.twitter.com/Gu7iEeBGOO— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 1, 2023
“For all the talk about him, a lot of good PR coming out of West Ham about how much he’s worth, I think he needs to do a lot more.
“Doesn’t score enough goals, doesn’t get enough assists.”
Ian Wright his co-pundit responded by saying, "wow".
Keane replied, “Do you disagree? That’s good. I hope you disagree with me because I know what I'm talking about I played in midfield.
"But he needs to do a lot more and let's see what he's like tonight. Listen I've been a fan of him, he turns up every week, he's always fit. But I just want a bit more from him.
"There's talk of him leaving for big money and going to one of the bigger clubs who are going to be competing for trophies and playing int he Champions League. He needs to do a lot more, it's as simple as that."
West Ham's next game is against Brighton this coming Saturday.
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