{"id":53795,"date":"2023-04-01T19:30:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T18:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?p=53795"},"modified":"2023-04-01T19:30:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T18:30:46","slug":"rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Kane became England\u2019s all-time top scorer in last week\u2019s Euro 2024 qualification win over Italy, but one player arguably shone even brighter at the Stadio Olimpico. Indeed, Declan Rice was one of the best players in a white shirt as Gareth Southgate\u2019s side controlled the majority of the match in Italy.<\/p>\n

This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract at West Ham this summer with Arsenal and Chelsea believed to be at the front of the transfer market queue. Rice himself has been candid about his ambition to play at a higher level.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hundred per cent I want to play in the Champions League,\u201d he said while on international duty with England at the 2022 World Cup. \u201cFor the last two or three years I\u2019ve been saying that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end you want to look back at what you\u2019ve won and the biggest games you\u2019ve played in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rice\u2019s performances for England highlight how he is ready for the next step.<\/a> The midfielder has struggled at club level this season along with many of his West Ham teammates, but against Italy and Ukraine he proved his ability to lift his performances according to the task and opponent in front of him.<\/p>\n

Chelsea have long been linked with Rice who came through the Stamford Bridge club\u2019s academy before being released as a teenager. N\u2019Golo Kante remains desperately injury prone and so the Blues could certainly use a new midfield anchor, although the January capture of Enzo Fernandez might have filled that void.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee Rice would start for Arsenal either. Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka have forged a strong partnership for the Gunners in the centre of the pitch with Martin Odegaard the creator in-chief ahead of them as the link between midfield and attack. At least initially, Rice would probably be a depth option.<\/p>\n

Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United have also been linked with Rice at one point or another in the past. It\u2019s difficult to envisage how Pep Guardiola and Erik Ten Hag could fit the 24-year-old into their teams – City already have Rodri and Kalvin Phillips while United have Casemiro – but Jurgen Klopp must rebuild his midfield this summer and Rice could be a part of that.<\/p>\n

West Ham are at risk of dropping into the Championship with David Moyes\u2019 team currently sitting in the Premier League\u2019s bottom three. Rice wouldn\u2019t hang around in the second tier and even if the Hammers manage to avoid relegation he has reached a career crossroads and must pick a different direction.<\/p>\n

At Euro 2020, Rice needed Phillips alongside him to control the midfield for England. At the 2022 World Cup, though, Rice had developed his all-round game to such an extent that he was deployed alongside the more dynamic, attack-minded Jude Bellingham. He offers enough in his own right to secure the centre of the pitch.<\/p>\n

In the past, Rice has been criticised for being limited in comparison to other modern midfielders. There are still concerns over the tempo he plays at and whether he would be able to operate at the speed required at the top level of the European game. If Rice is a standout performer for England right now, there\u2019s a good chance he could be similar for one of Europe\u2019s biggest clubs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harry Kane became England\u2019s all-time top scorer in last week\u2019s Euro 2024 qualification win over Italy, but one player arguably shone even brighter at the Stadio Olimpico. Indeed, Declan Rice was one of the best players in a white shirt as Gareth Southgate\u2019s side controlled the majority of the match in Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272],"class_list":["post-53795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome"],"yoast_head":"\nRice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level - Colossus Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-01T18:30:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-01T18:30:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/habib-ayoade-PZ8lyg_c-pk-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"805\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\"},\"headline\":\"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-01T18:30:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-01T18:30:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":629,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"FeatureHome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level - Colossus Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-01T18:30:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-01T18:30:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"description\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Colossus Bets\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Colossus Bets\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SportsBigger\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ColossusBets\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/colossusbets_\\\/?hl=en\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/colossus-bets\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ColossusBets\\\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\",\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Graham Ruthven\"},\"description\":\"Graham Ruthven is a freelance football writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, ESPN, Eurosport, Grantland, The Scotsman, Bleacher Report, Four Four Two, Vice, Al Arabiya, Sports on Earth and Scottish TV among many other publications and outlets.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/grahamruthven.net\\\/about\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/grahamruthven\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/grahamruthven\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level - Colossus Blog","description":"This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level","og_description":"This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/","og_site_name":"Colossus Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","article_published_time":"2023-04-01T18:30:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-01T18:30:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":805,"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/habib-ayoade-PZ8lyg_c-pk-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Graham Ruthven","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven","twitter_site":"@ColossusBets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Graham Ruthven","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/"},"author":{"name":"Graham Ruthven","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2"},"headline":"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level","datePublished":"2023-04-01T18:30:10+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-01T18:30:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/"},"wordCount":629,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["FeatureHome"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2023","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/","name":"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level - Colossus Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-01T18:30:10+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-01T18:30:46+00:00","description":"This performance came as speculation over Rice\u2019s future continues to swirl. The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/rices-england-performances-show-hes-ready-for-a-step-up-at-club-level\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rice\u2019s England performances show he\u2019s ready for a step up at club level"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","name":"Colossus Blog","description":"Colossus Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Colossus Bets","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Colossus Bets"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ColossusBets","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colossusbets_\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/colossus-bets\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ColossusBets\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2","name":"Graham Ruthven","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Graham Ruthven"},"description":"Graham Ruthven is a freelance football writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, ESPN, Eurosport, Grantland, The Scotsman, Bleacher Report, Four Four Two, Vice, Al Arabiya, Sports on Earth and Scottish TV among many other publications and outlets.","sameAs":["https:\/\/grahamruthven.net\/about\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven"],"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/author\/grahamruthven\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53795"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53805,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53795\/revisions\/53805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}