Dwight Yorke, the former Manchester United and Aston Villa forward has expressed his view that West Ham United's £100 million valued midfielder Declan Rice is "overhyped" and doesn't even bear comparison with his former teammates Roy Keane or Paul Scholes.
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£100 million man?
Yorke, who scored 123 Premier League goals in 375 appearances during his career, believes that Rice isn't at the level to warrant the price tag put upon his shoulders, just doing "well enough" in his club performances. Saying that he would want "more" for that kind of money:
"You pay £100m-plus for players who can split teams apart with their passing and I don't see that from Rice. I see a dogged midfielder who gets his foot stuck in but for that kind of money, you have to do more."
With Rice's club side West Ham United struggling for form this season and finding themselves in a relegation fight at the bottom of the table, Yorke stated that he did not think that Rice has enough "influence" on games.
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Not in that "bracket" -
And Yorke, who lined up alongside Keane and Scholes during his time at Manchester United, most famously during the 1999 treble-winning campaign, dismissed any idea that Rice is in the same league as the midfield duo who made over 865 Premier League appearances between them, saying:
"Declan Rice isn't in Roy Keane's bracket. He's very good and I know that all the English fans big him up but he doesn't influence games much. He does good things but he's not a Scholesy.
"He'll never be anywhere near as good as Roy Keane. He's a good player, who plays well for England and does well enough for West Ham."
Talking about his former captain at Manchester United Keane, who is himself now a vocal pundit, Yorke hailed him as a "great" leader, who would be vocal on the pitch "taking a couple of prisoners down with him", something that Yorke says he doesn't see enough of anymore:
"Great captains like Roy Keane or Bryan Robson, they would never give in and would keep b*llocking their teammates and showing their passion and desire."
Referring to current Manchester United Bruno Fernandes, who cut a dramatic figure in his side's capitulation at Anfield in their 7-0 drubbing, Yorke criticised the "play-acting" which he feels has crept into the game "more and more nowadays".
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Luck of the English -
Yorke expressed his potentially controversial view that Rice has received the positive recognition he has from plaudits due to having switched his international allegiance from Ireland to England. Rice decided to do so in February 2019 having already played in the Irish youth set-up for around two years prior, whilst being hailed as a future national team captain. Commenting on the plaudits that 24-year-old Rice has won since he made his West Ham United debut in 2017, the former Trinidad and Tobago striker appeared underwhelmed, saying:
"I get why the media are raving about him because he's English, but if he was foreign then he'd be deemed as just a good player."
"If he didn't change his international allegiance to England, he'd be getting next to no recognition."
Rice, who has been capped by England on 39 occasions and scored twice, appears to be a key member of Gareth Southgate's squad and started all seven games that England played in UEFA Euro 2020 and all five games at the Fifa World Cup 2022. It is anticipated that there will be a bidding war this summer for the right to Rice's signature, with the player believed to have turned down several contract extensions and seeking a new opportunity at club level.
This interview was provided by BoyleSports and FootballOdds: https://betting.boylesports.com/dwight-yorkes-reaction-to-man-uniteds-7-0-defeat-to-liverpool/
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