World-class or overhyped: What makes Declan Rice a £100m+ player?

It's hard not to feel bad for David Moyes. Over the past few seasons, he's had to field questions about Rice's future with alarming regularity. Moyes has been consistent when quizzed about Rice's astronomical price tag, though. It's £100m+ or nothing for the Hammers. Most recently, when asked if the midfielder was worth that much he replied, quite simply: "Yeah."

He added: "I think I've said everything there is to say about Declan. He's a really important player for West Ham, he's someone who we value greatly and you can see what he means to the team. He's a really good individual and we're enjoying having him."

Just a few days earlier Moyes had claimed that Rice's eventual transfer fee would easily eclipse the British-record £106m Chelsea spent on Enzo Fernandez back in January. "Undoubtedly Declan is going to be a top player. He'll be a British transfer record if he ever leaves West Ham," he said. "There's a lot of talk about it and when you see what's going about for the prices, I think Dec will be blowing that out of the water, that's for sure, when it comes around."

As much as Moyes would love his skipper to stick around, all of the signs have been pointing towards Rice moving on this summer. The West Ham boss admitted as much in May, telling reporters: "We hope Dec stays. We would love him to be a West Ham player but we are aware that might not be the case. That is one of the scenarios. Our plans are to have Dec here but we are also fully aware there is a good chance that we won't have him."

Sporting director Mark Noble echoed these sentiments in February. "Dec is no different. Dec will always be hailed at West Ham as a fantastic player and such a top, top person. But I don’t think anyone begrudges him wanting to go and win things," he said.

And Rice himself has confessed that he wants to fight for the big trophies. "One hundred percent I want to play in the Champions League. For the last two or three years I’ve been saying that. I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends who are playing Champions League and for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in."

Of course, Rice is not universally appreciated for his talents. News that West Ham would be holding out for £120m this summer was greeted with widespread bemusement by fans and pundits alike. Even managers got in on the act.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank suggested that Ivan Toney would be worth more than Rice in the current market last month, while Arsenal legend Gilberto Silva also questioned his price tag. "Normally you see this sort of price for strikers, not central midfielders. It feels quite high, even though there is no doubting the quality of the player, but it does feel like a very high price," he said.

Supporters outside of the West Ham bubble have similar doubts about Rice. This is potentially a product of the role he plays. He is vital to the team but his performances are not in-your-face brilliant if you don't know what you're looking for.

So, what is Rice's role? The catch-all term would be deep-lying playmaker, probably. During his time at West Ham and for England he's generally played in a double-pivot in a 4-2-3-1, or as the deepest player in a midfield three.

His principal responsibility out of possession is providing his defenders with an extra layer of protection. When his side has the ball, he's the first port of call when building attacks, either via his passing or ball-carrying abilities.

Players in this mould are very hard to find - that's why Arsenal are so eager to sign Rice on a long-term deal this summer. Man City took a long time to wean themselves off Fernandinho for good, with Rodri struggling to fill the void left by his absence at first. Elsewhere, Liverpool's lynchpin Fabinho was once described as a "lighthouse" for Jurgen Klopp's "organised chaos" by Pep Lijnders.

Casemiro, another player of this ilk, has been absolutely transformative for Manchester United this season and it is little surprise that Leeds' and Leicester's downfalls coincided with the sale of Kalvin Phillips and Wilfred Ndidi's loss of form, respectively.

Defensive midfielders tie the team together. They are the oil in the cogs and the bringers of stability. It's little wonder they're so hard to find.

Rice's ability to progress the ball has improved considerably in recent seasons. In the early part of his career, when the hype train began to leave the station, he was criticised for being too safe in possession - and the numbers back this up.

During his breakthrough 2017-18 season, Rice managed just 2.26 progressive passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League. In every campaign that has followed, his forward passing has improved considerably. This reached its peak during the 2021-22 campaign when Rice averaged a mightily impressive 7.25 progressive passes per 90 minutes - numbers that have only dipped very slightly during the current campaign.

Rice has a range of different passes in his arsenal, from raking long balls with either foot which find West Ham's wingers, to intricate through balls to the frontman. He is a prolific playmaker, with a combination of game awareness and supreme technique making him the perfect creator from deep.

Just as his passing has improved over the years, Rice is now far more adept at bursting past the opposition with the ball at his feet. In that aforementioned maiden Premier League season, Rice registered 1.13 progressive carries (dribbles that gain 10 yards or more) per 90 minutes. In his most recent campaign, he has managed almost exactly twice as many.

There has been a similar improvement in the amount of take-ons Rice has completed, as well as the number of carries into the final third he's managed. This newly-found dribbling ability has been a very welcome addition to his game as it provides an antidote when teams look to shut down his short passing with a targeted pressing system.

It also just looks brilliant. There are few things more aesthetically pleasing in football than a highly-physical centre-midfielder jinking past his marker before using his gaping strides to power up the pitch. That's what you pay the big bucks for.

Rice started life as a centre-back - and it shows. His off-the-ball awareness is simply outstanding and you will not be surprised to learn that no player completed more interceptions in the 2022-23 Premier League season (63). Rice has also ranked in the top nine for most tackles completed in each of the past two campaigns, while his aerial prowess is also unmatched among players who play a similar role in Europe.

Working from such a solid defensive base means that he could easily slot into the backline again if required. When Chelsea were most strongly linked with signing him, they were said to be planning to stick him in a back three.

You could certainly see this working well as he possesses all of the traits required for a modern defender. Playing him at centre-back would likely be a waste of his attacking gifts, though.

Whisper it quietly, but Rice might just be adding goals to his game too. He has now netted five times in successive seasons, a fairly impressive haul when you considering how deep he plays in the most part.

Some of these strikes have been rather important, too. Back in October, Rice grabbed a vital equaliser against Southampton, playing a clever one-two before bending an effort past Gavin Bazunu. More recently, he kickstarted his side's fightback against Leeds, arriving at the opportune time at the back post to side-foot volley Jarrod Bowen's cross home. He's also performed on the international level, opening the scoring for England against Italy.

If he can continue to increase his goal output, Rice may have to be re-categorised as a complete midfielder.

It feels like Rice has been around for ages, but he's still only 24 years old. Despite his career still being in its infancy, he's already racked up over 200 Premier League appearances as well as big-tournament experience with both club and country.

He also captained West Ham since the retirement of Noble last summer. Noble left quite the hole in the Hammers' dressing room, but Rice led the club with class and dignity, fronting up after poor performances when required and retaining that connection between the players and the fans.

Therefore, clubs this summer are signing someone who not only has the majority of their playing days ahead of them, but also possesses the mental fortitude to meet the challenge of representing a top European side.

There's little debate that Rice is the best defensive midfielder available to top clubs this summer. The more pertinent question is: why is he valued so highly, and is he worth breaking the bank for?

The factor pushing West Ham's valuation up so dramatically is the fact that he's English. Popularly, players from England are said be 'overhyped'. But the true reasons for their inflated value are more complicated.

Thanks to a record-breaking broadcasting deal, the Premier League clubs dwarf their European counterparts in terms of spending power. Their economic might means even lesser-known sides can offer eye-watering wages, giving them the pick of the best talent in the world.

However, as much as some clubs may not want to, the Premier League's homegrown rules mean they must retain a nucleus of players trained in England. As a result, the best English players, such as Rice, are like gold dust. Everyone wants them, but they have to pay a healthy premium to get them.