David Moyes already has the perfect Declan Rice replacement at West Ham United but it’s not as simple as that.
West Ham boss David Moyes has a huge task on his hands at the London Stadium this summer, with Declan Rice likely to leave.
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Moyes has the likes of Flynn Downes, Lucas Paqueta and Tomas Soucek who can all play in central midfield.
However, the Scot absolutely must bring in an elite player this summer, if Rice leaves the Hammers. That said, I don’t think Rice’s replacement needs to be a defensive midfielder…
David Moyes already has perfect Declan Rice replacement at West Ham but it’s not that simple
In my opinion, Flynn Downes is perfectly good enough to play the defensive midfield role for the Hammers next season.
The 24-year-old proved that today with his performance away at Leicester. He is a tenacious tackler, a great reader of the game, is more than comfortable receiving the ball from the back four and keeps everything ticking with his quick and incisive passing.
Against the Foxes, Downes made two tackles and one interception. He had 72 touches, made 66 passes and registered an incredibly impressive 97% completion rate (Who Scored).
He’s a very boring player if you will – but that’s a good thing. He’s no-frills, but very efficient, and that’s what you need from a defensive midfielder.
He can easily play at the base of our midfield next season. However, what Moyes does need to do if we are to make progress after Rice leaves is sign an elite box-to-box midfielder in my opinion.
Someone like Seko Fofana, Yunus Musa or Khephren Thuram would do nicely. Moyes needs to sign a player with energy, power, pace and athleticism as a Declan Rice replacement this summer.
Signing a defensive midfielder would be somewhat of a waste as far as I’m concerned. We already have the perfect DM at the London Stadium in the form of Flynn Downes.
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