At 19, Declan Rice is quickly establishing himself as a key figure in David Moyes' West Ham. He started today during their 1-1 draw with Chelsea in a game that carried particular significance for the youngster.
Rice has previously spoken about the setback he had to overcome when he was just 14, when his boyhood club released him from their young academy.
When Chelsea let me go it was really deflating. For me, as a youngster, it's all I ever knew - living 10 minutes from the training ground, going to loads of the games.
It's one of those where you've just got to pick yourself up and go again.
Today he got the opportunity to show them what they missed.
Released by Chelsea at 14.. 5 years later start against them & put in a fantastic team performance❤⚒ fans were different class too. joe hart👏👏! We keep pushing until the end #COYI pic.twitter.com/UYr8CQBL4r
— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) April 8, 2018
Rice made his Republic of Ireland debut last month during the Friendly away to Turkey and also was a key figure for the U21 side who kept their Euro qualification hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan. He looks set to kick on and enjoy a prolonged and successful career in the Premier League and with the national side.
