Declan Rice has posted an image of a 14-year-old himself with Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta on twitter.
To mark his incredible rise in the professional game, the new Irish international posted an image of him standing with the current Hammers right back, who was still with new Premier League champions Manchester City at the time.From his fan in 2014.. Too teammates in 2018.. ⚒ pic.twitter.com/CZMR0IWAab
— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) April 18, 2018
Since the image was taken, Rice - who began his footballing career at Chelsea - has moved to West Ham, made his Premier League debut, secured a place in David Moyes' first team and represented his country at full international level.
And only last week the veteran Argentinian, who is approaching the end of his first year at the club since securing a free transfer move from City insisted that Rice had a ll the credentials to become a future Hammers skipper.
"Declan is still only 19 but he's improving game after game," said Zaba. "He's got that energy to play and I'm very pleased for him. I hope I can help him and teach him how to defend as this guy has a great future at the club.
"I'm sure he'll be a West Ham captain in the future."
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