Declan Rice has taken his game to next level. No wonder Frank Lampard wanted him (2024)

This is a good time to wonder what Frank Lampard said to Declan Rice during their fleeting exchange in December. Chelsea may have been victorious against West Ham United but perhaps this was the moment Lampard conceded defeat in his long-running pursuit of the midfielder.

Since then, the 22-year-old’s stock has continued to ascend, while Lampard is wondering what comes next in his managerial career after being jettisoned by Chelsea. Ultimately, there was no strong desire from the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge to pay “Bank of England money” for a player they released from their academy as a 14-year-old.

Rice, who was a major influence in West Ham’s 3-2 win at Crystal Palace, signed a long-term contract in 2018 that expires in the summer of 2024 and includes an option to extend for another 12 months.

Although Chelsea are well stocked in midfield with Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and Billy Gilmour, Lampard felt Rice could be converted into a top centre-back as well as using him as a defensive midfielder.

Rice plays week in, week out and has formed an elite midfield partnership with Tomas Soucek. The England international is West Ham’s new leader and has excelled whenever he has deputised as captain in Mark Noble’s absence. When Jamal Baptiste, Nathan Trott and Oladapo Afolayan made their first-team debuts in the FA Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers, it was Rice who went out of his way to congratulate them.

There are those who are still of the belief Rice is overrated and not good enough for a top-six club — those critics have not watched him closely enough. Every week he continues to impress on the defensive end and the statistics show Rice is one of the leading holding midfielders in the league. Since the start of last season, he is in the top five per cent of defenders and central midfielders for possession won in the Premier League, with a 60 per cent tackle success rate. That places him above the likes of Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, 57 per cent), Rodri (Manchester City, 48 per cent) and Jorginho (46 per cent).

It is plausible that Lampard’s successor Thomas Tuchel could express an interest in signing Rice. The German has previously invested in holding midfielders during his managerial career. At Paris Saint-Germain, he signed Idrissa Gueye from Everton, while at Borussia Dortmund, he turned Ilkay Gundogan into a world-class midfielder and signed Sebastian Rode and Gonzalo Castro for a combined fee of £20 million.

So what has made Rice an elite holding midfielder?

It is not just opinion, it is backed up by the data. Soucek’s defensive strengths have freed up Rice to be more attack-minded than he was in 2019-20, when his midfield partners were Carlos Sanchez, Jack Wilshere and Noble.

When looking at Rice’s statistics compared with the Chelsea midfield, he does not necessarily outperform the likes of Kante, Jorginho or Kovacic on a per-90-minute basis.

Key attributes for which Rice is well known, include his reading of the game, strength in the challenge and increasingly-effective drives upfield with the ball. He is now orchestrating much of West Ham’s attacking play. In the 2-1 win at Leeds United, he made a surging run and threaded an inviting pass to Pablo Fornals, who squandered the chance.

In the 1-0 win against Sheffield United, Rice made a driving run, carrying the ball over halfway and into the attacking third, but overhit the pass when he attempted to square it to Fornals. It is another example of how Rice has become one of West Ham’s chief carriers of the ball.

Looking at his data from Smarterscout (a site that gives detailed analytics on players all over the world, producing a score between 0-99), the first thing to note is that, for a defensive midfielder, Rice is very productive in attack. His rating of 74 out of 99 for “xG from shot creation” shows how he has helped his team create goalscoring chances.

Likewise, his “xG from ball progression” (75 out of 99) shows his strength in receiving the ball and progressing the team upfield by passing and carrying it into dangerous areas. Coupled with his “high carry and dribble volume” (89 out of 99), you can see how proficient Rice is in driving West Ham forward.

Comparing Rice’s output with Kante and Jorginho as defensive midfielders, you can see the stark absence in attacking output. Rice has a rating of 52 out of 99 for shot volume. Although he did not shoot once against Crystal Palace, he attempted three against West Brom, one of which was on target. This is huge in comparison to Jorginho and Kante’s shot volume.

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Where Rice stands out from the Chelsea defensive midfielders is the variety of his play from a defensive and offensive perspective. Another noticeable takeaway from Rice’s performances is his willingness to shoot from distance. He is yet to reprise his long-range strike against Watford from last season, but he still backs himself to test the goalkeeper. He has also improved on set pieces and came close to scoring from a free kick in the 1-0 win against Burnley.

Rice’s game has been elevated since David Moyes returned to the helm in December 2019, and the 3-1 home win against Watford last July was a huge sign of their close bond. After scoring a long-range strike, the midfielder ran to the technical area to embrace his manager. Rice enjoys playing under Moyes and despite the midfielder changing his agent, there is no reason to suggest he is in a hurry to leave.

“Other than financial, I don’t see any reasons he should leave,” Tony Carr, West Ham’s former academy director, told The Athletic. “If he gave the club a couple more years at the very least and kept progressing and becoming an established international player, he would still be young enough to go to one of the big clubs.”

There is still an argument that Rice could outgrow West Ham but there does not appear to be an obvious alternative destination among the elite clubs. Manchester United have high hopes for Scott McTominay, Manchester City are happy with Rodri’s progress, Liverpool have the reliable Jordan Henderson, Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are debt-ridden, Bayern Munich have Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka as their midfield pair, and Paris Saint-Germain have Marco Verratti.

For the time being, Rice is better suited to staying at West Ham. He is a fan favourite and has repeatedly stated he would like to be the permanent captain one day. He is no longer the young novice — he is arguably the most influential figure in the dressing room.

(Photo: Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)