Declan Rice made his first Premier League start at the weekend, playing in a holding midfield role alongside Mark Noble as West Ham lost 3-2 at St. Mary's against Southampton. A week previous, he had come off the bench for a 30 minute cameo against Man Utd.
The 18-year-old is an Ireland under-19 international. Late last season, just days after making his Premier League debut, Rice was called up to the Ireland senior squad for the friendlies against Mexico and Uruguay.
Born in London, Rice qualifies to play for Ireland through his grandparents. He moved to West Ham four years ago from Chelsea. Last season, who can also play centre-back, captained West Ham U23s to the Premier League 2 trophy.
Rice, one of the London club's most promising young players, has already won a fan in Pablo Zabaleta. Speaking prior to the weekend, Zabaleta - who only joined West Ham during the summer from Man City - spoke highly of his young teammate.
To be honest, I love him. He’s young but he has got that personality that you need to play with the first team. He came on against Manchester United and he was always asking for the ball, switching the ball from one side to the other, he looks really confident and that’s good.
I love young players coming through from the Academy and showing that they want to do well, so hopefully we can help him as much as we can, and I’m sure he will be a very important player for West Ham over the years to come.
To hear that Zabaleta, one of the Premier League's most experienced defenders, wants to take Rice under his wing is certainly encouraging from an Irish perspective.
