Declan Rice says that training with established international is helping him reach the level required to make his Premier League breakthrough with West Ham United.
Rice, 18, who led the Hammers to promotion to Premier League 2 Division 1 last season, made his PL debut as a late substitute in the 2-1 win over Burnley in May and has impressed during pre-season.
“My next target is to start in the Premier League, that's what I am aiming for," he told whufc.com. "I'll play wherever the manager puts me, centre-back or centre midfield, I don't care.
“Having players around like Mark Noble and James Collins, they just keep egging me on to do better and better and keep getting better, giving me confidence to perform.
“It is a massive step-up from the Under-23s to this – with better players, international footballers, everything is a bit more sharper and at a high intensity.”
Rice will be hoping to feature for Slaven Bilic's team when they start the 2017/18 campaign at Manchester United on Sunday 13 August.
“My next target is to start in the Premier League, that's what I am aiming for."https://t.co/SReLec3HRi
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) July 31, 2017
