Declan Rice: Pundit makes ‘tooled up to high heaven’ claim after West Ham star update
Alex McLeish has suggested Declan Rice knows West Ham will struggle to break into the top four after David Moyes revealed the club’s ambitions moving forward.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Scotland boss insisted the 23-year-old realises the Irons cannot compete financially with the top “four or five” teams in the Premier League.
As quoted by the Evening Standard on Wednesday (9 March), Moyes stated the “next step” for the club is “consolidation” of their current position and revealed European qualification is the aim for this season.
However, the Scottish manager admitted his “worry” is “how to keep going for the next few years”.
Asked how he thought top players like Rice would react to Moyes comments, McLeish insisted they would know the limits West Ham face compared to their rivals.
McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “I think Declan Rice is a very intelligent guy, as well as being a really good footballer.
“He, as much as anybody else, will be aware that there are about four or five teams that are extremely difficult to get past in the league. They are tooled up to high heaven with international, world-class players.
“Some of them are the best in the world. You look at Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool. Manchester United have fallen away a bit, their recruitment hasn’t been the best so there have got to be question marks there.
“But there’s four or five teams that probably should be above West Ham. I think that the players will be saying: ‘If we do this, it’ll be something special, it’ll be like winning a cup final, getting into the top six.’
“That’s still within the grasp. I don’t think they should be saying we will get the top four. It’s possible, but not probable.”
In other news, pundit slams West Ham over transfer blunder after Jarrod Bowen update.