By John Smith

Declan Rice can play for England now. You can take that two ways. Either as a reference to his recent international switch to Gareth Southgate’s side after three friendly appearances for the Republic of Ireland, and a no doubt agonised decision to make the change; or as an assertion that right now, with his ability, and in his current form, he is ready to be picked. Whichever way you read it, it’s equally true. Declan Rice can play for England now.

There hasn’t been too much for West Ham fans to celebrate since their move to the London Stadium, but the emergence of Declan Rice has certainly been a highlight. Amid a turbulent time of fan protests, manager turnover and protracted transfer sagas, Rice has quietly established himself as a mainstay of the Hammers’ side.

Since making his debut in the final minute of the final game of the 2016/17 season away at Burnley, Rice played mostly as a centre-back under Slaven Bilic and David Moyes, before truly coming of age this season as a holding midfielder of poise and class under Manuel Pellegrini.

It would be naïve to think that Rice hasn’t at least had some indication from Gareth Southgate that he will get games for England, before taking his decision; and his sudden availability for the country of his birth will, at the very least, provide competition for places for the likes of Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson in the coming months.

England surprised everyone in going so far in last summer’s World Cup, but as well as they did, we could all see their deficiencies, particularly in midfield. And that’s where Declan Rice comes in. In spite of his youth, Rice already appears to be the man this West Ham side look to in a crisis. He’s a calm head who can win the ball, and crucially, keep the ball, with a ferocious energy for the game that at times drags others along with him. If he doesn’t quite win ‘Man of The Match’ every week, it seems like he’s in the running for it more often than not.

Rice turned 20 in January, having scored the winner against Arsenal two days earlier. His wild celebrations and heart-warming, almost childish glee that day, served as a reminder that he remains a very young prospect at this stage; something almost impossible to tell from the series of mature performances he currently delivers week after week.

That maturity was on display in the statement he issued regarding his change of international allegiance. He thanked all the right people, spoke of the lengthy discussions he had had before coming to the decision to switch his allegiance and crucially described the decision as: ‘not one I ever expected to be making at this stage of my career. So much has happened, so quickly, in the past couple of years’. And that’s the truth.

When offered a crack at international football with Ireland, he took it, but given his growing stature now, and the current relative quality of the two teams (though of course that has not, and may not always be the case), the decision to represent England seems understandable. Inevitably, the decision he made left some fans angry, but hopefully even they could acknowledge that the manner in which he did it showed some class.

You could certainly argue that the rules are wrong, that once you’ve worn the shirt at senior level you stick with the country you chose, and that chose you first, and many would be inclined to agree with you. However, the rules are in place and they are the same rules that deprived England of Wilfried Zaha after his switch to play for the Ivory Coast. Rice has made a mature decision with both head and heart, and Ireland’s unfortunate loss in this case, is England’s gain – so long as he can maintain his current imperious form.

Fans of every club love it when one of their own makes it, and West Ham are currently enjoying Rice lining up alongside the likes of Grady Diangana and Ben Johnson, as well as the elder statesman, Mark Noble. Noble however, is an exception to the general rule that home grown players make their name at West Ham before moving on to bigger and better things. With Declan Rice there is already the potential that, like Carrick, Cole, Ferdinand, Lampard and plenty more before him, a better offer will come knocking and we’ll lose him.

Indeed there are already one or two teams in the upper echelons, that could do with a player such as Rice to either upgrade on what they currently have, or as a contingency for when an older great can no longer cut it; but we’ll only whisper about it because we don’t want to encourage that sort of thing.

We can only hope that, with the whirlwind nature of his career to date, young Declan will decide that a few more years at the club that has given him a start will be the best thing for him. That might be overly optimistic on my part, but there was a further indication of his mature thinking in his recent contract negotiations with the club. Rice’s stunning early progress left him earning first contract money while playing like a big money player. He has become a linchpin with other much more highly paid, and less featured stars around him at the club. There was an agonising few months during which the more hysterical voices within the club’s support assumed he was either making unreasonable demands or angling for an early move away. Instead, the matter was resolved, presumably to the satisfaction of everyone concerned, the decision was quietly announced, and Rice got on with playing football – really well.

That maturity on display in his contract negotiations, his international decision, and consistently out on the field will stand Rice in good stead as he continues to progress. And whether that’s as a West Ham hero for many years to come, or as a big money transfer elsewhere at some stage, I think we can confidently say it will also be as an international footballer with Three Lions on his shirt.

Because Declan Rice can play for England now.

John Smith is Co-Author of ‘Booked! The Gospel According To Our Football Heroes