Hammers boss David Moyes has named three West Ham vice captains to help Declan Rice after succeeding Mark Noble.
It marked the end of an era when West Ham captain Mark Noble retired in May.
Noble brought the curtain down on his near two decade Hammers career at the end of last season amid emotional scenes.
Rice picks up the baton as West Ham’s new club captain proper following Noble’s departure.
That is no real surprise given the talismanic midfielder has effectively been West Ham’s captain on the pitch for some time now as Noble wound down to his goodbye.
But fans have been intrigued as to who Moyes would make West Ham’s vice-captain.
We reported here on Hammers News last month that the likes of Aaron Cresswell and Angelo Ogbonna could be in the running for that role.
And it seems the Hammers boss has opted for the leadership group approach to fill the void.
That’s because Moyes has named three West Ham vice captains to help Rice after succeeding Noble.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Moyes has confirmed that Cresswell, Ogbonna and Lukasz Fabianski will share the vice-captaincy responsibility.
The Scot says it is important Rice – who is still just 23-years-old – does not get too bogged down dealing with the kind of off-field, behind-the-scenes issues Noble had been taking care of.
“Well he’s been captain of the team most of the year, so when Mark’s not been playing he was captain of the team so I’ve not got any real reason to think that I wouldn’t make him that,” Moyes told Sky Sports.
“But he’s a young man who is still learning. It might have been a bit easier for him, being the captain, knowing that Mark Noble was in the building because those two could work it out.
“Now Dec has to step up to another level, not just the way he plays on the pitch but his leadership off the pitch, dealing with a lot of the other things that go on.
“But hopefully we’ll surround him with Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell and Angelo Ogbonna – people who have been at the club a long time and people who can help him.”
It seems a sensible choice from Moyes and all three players possess a bounty of experience Rice can lean on.
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