Declan Rice says he misses West Ham and is looking forward to being back with Hammers teammates

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West Ham United fans have been fretting over the future of Declan Rice but it seems there is no need.

The West Ham talisman is set to follow in the footsteps of Hammers legends Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters by playing for England in a major final when he faces Italy on Sunday night.

While Rice has been away at Euro 2020, West Ham fans have had to contend with fresh speculation over his club future.

The Telegraph ran an exclusive last week claiming Rice has turned down two offers of new contracts from West Ham.

Hammers fans fretting over Rice’s future after contract snub claims

And the Hammers midfielder has reportedly asked the club to keep him informed of any bids.

That has – inevitably – sparked increased speculation Rice will leave West Ham with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool linked.

The club’s assistant manager Stuart Pearce responded to the speculation saying Rice has everything he needs at the London Stadium and ‘loves driving West Ham forward’.

Rice appeared to give worried West Ham fans some much-needed reassurance when he was pictured doing the crossed Hammers after England’s 4-0 win over Ukraine in the wake of The Telegraph reports.

Rice: ‘I miss West Ham, speak to my Hammers teammates everyday and can’t wait to be back with them’

And now the 22-year-old has told talkSPORT he misses West Ham, speaks with his Hammers teammates on FaceTime everyday and can’t wait to be back with them after they started back for pre-season last week.

“To be fair I’ve been on FaceTime to them most days,” Rice told talkSPORT when asked if he missed his West Ham teammates.

“I speak to (Mark) Noble everyday on FaceTime, (Ryan) Fredericks, Cress (Aaron Cresswell). I speak to all of them, I spoke to them yesterday. They’re just bantering me to be honest with you, that’s what they’ve been up to! Nothing good again, nonsense like usual!

“I miss them lot to be fair, I’ve not seen them obviously for so long now. Obviously Noble has been at the games, but just that feeling of being at pre-season, having a laugh with them, I’ve definitely missed them.

‘Noble is like a proud dad, we speak everyday’

“Noble especially, he’s like a proud dad,” Rice said when asked if his West Ham teammates had been giving him encouragement.

“Honestly he is, he calls my dad on the phone speaking about the games, speaks to me obviously – we speak every day – he’s done a nice piece on the West Ham website talking about me and you can just see what he felt speaking about me, it’s amazing.”

In other West Ham news, Hammers co-owner David Sullivan is said to be making it his personal mission to sign £16m man for David Moyes.

And Moyes is reportedly keen on a former Everton man as a plan B in defence.