Nuno wants to sign a star with shades of Rice for West Ham

West Ham United have had combined luck in the case of recruitment over the previous couple of years.

On the one hand, the Hammers seem to have lastly discovered the appropriate supervisor in Nuno Espírito Santo and a few actual expertise in gamers like Mateus Fernandes and Callum Wilson.

Nevertheless, the East Londoners have additionally made their justifiable share of poor signings and have not actually ever discovered a correct Declan Rice substitute.

Happily, which may quickly change, with studies linking the membership with a Rice-like worldwide.

West Ham goal Rice-like star

Throughout his years in East London, Rice made 245 appearances for West Ham, scoring 15 objectives and offering 13 assists.

The Englishman’s function developed from a purely defensive one into extra of an all-action midfielder by the point he left for a whopping £105m.

Since then, whereas they’ve tried, it could be honest to say that the membership have did not discover a appropriate substitute, or one which has even come shut for that matter.

The excellent news is that the seek for a Rice-like star might quickly be coming to an finish.

At the very least that’s in response to a current report from TEAMtalk, which claims that West Ham are concerned with Ruben Neves.

The report has revealed that Nuno would like to carry his former participant to the London Stadium in January or the summer season and has already requested the membership to look into making a deal occur.

Nevertheless, whereas the Portuguese star is open to a return to English soccer, he’s additionally courting curiosity from the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle United, who may be capable of supply him a extra engaging undertaking.

In all, it may very well be a sophisticated switch to recover from the road, however given Neves’ potential and particularly with Nuno on the helm, West Ham must be combating for him, as he may very well be the membership’s subsequent Rice.

How Neves compares to Rice

Now, it must be stated that whereas Neves would signify a wonderful signing for West Ham, and doubtlessly be the long-awaited Rice substitute, it could be unfair to anticipate him to be simply pretty much as good.

The Englishman is a bona fide world-class participant, and whereas the Portuguese star might definitely get there, he’d probably be only a half-step down in high quality, which might nonetheless be a major improve on what the membership have immediately.

With all that stated, what similarities do the gamers share then?

Properly, in the beginning, like the previous Hammers star, the Al Hilal monster is somebody who can fulfil a number of totally different roles in the course of the park.

For instance, his most-played place is defensive midfield, however he is additionally performed 75 membership video games in central midfield, exhibiting he could be that all-action midfield destroyer if wanted.

Second, the Santa Maria da Feira-born maestro is a superb set-piece taker, whether or not it is free-kicks, corner-kicks or penalties.

For instance, he has scored seven direct free-kicks and 18 penalties in his senior profession, in addition to a handful of absolute screamers.

Furthermore, like Rice throughout his days in East London, the 63-capped worldwide maybe did not get the appreciation he deserved in England as a result of he did not play for a ‘massive six’ facet, which is why analyst Raj Chohan as soon as labelled him “probably the most underrated participant in world soccer.”

Lastly, on high of every thing else, FBref additionally ranked Neves because the seventh most comparable midfielder to Rice within the Premier League for the 22/23 season.

This conclusion was reached as a result of the 2 ranked intently throughout a number of metrics, resembling non-penalty anticipated objectives plus assists, progressive and key passes, tackles plus interceptions, carries, and extra, all per 90.

In the end, it is perhaps a tough deal to get completed, however West Ham must be doing all they’ll to signal Neves in 2026, as he is an distinctive participant and may very well be the Rice substitute they’ve wanted for nearly three years.