Declan Rice has been piling praise on Jesse Lingard and in doing so probably piling pressure on the board and David Moyes.

Now a regular as captain and a player, the club need to keep as happy as possible and it seems clear that Dec wants little more than for the Manchester United loanee to remain at West Ham.

He, like us knows exactly how important the attacking midfielder has become to the Hammers and how influential he is likely to be as we go for a Champions League place.

And thankfully, with the international break slowly arriving at its end, Declan is talking club again and Jesse in particular.

Such is his admiration for the 28 year old and his words to match it could now be very tricky should the club not go ahead with a permanent sale.

He is quoted in the Daily Mirror and has nothing but good things to say about the guy declaring: “Jesse is just such a great character and he has just added a lot to West Ham.

Rice believes Lingard to be one of the best players in the Premier League

“There is no doubt that he is one of the best players in the league right now in terms of form.”

 

“I think people have the wrong perception of what he is from social media – his Instagram and all that type of stuff.

“Now, having him at West Ham, he’s just got that infectious personality and the lads have really bought in to him, the lads all love him.

“He is a great person to be around. You can see that here as well. He has been away from the squad for two years but he has come back in and all the lads are buzzing to see him. He is making everyone laugh.”