West Ham United honoured club legend Billy Bonds last Saturday, naming a stand at the London Stadium after him.
He played 799 games for the Hammers in a career that lasted over 27 years, and current captain Mark Noble will hope to emulate him.
The midfielder is about to play his 400th game for West Ham, and club vice-chairman Karren Brady is hoping they can be able to hold on to Declan Rice for that long.
“You’ll know we have another of his (Billy Bonds) kind in Mark Noble, also our captain and also uncapped — hiss, boo — who is about to play his 400th game for the club he joined 19 years ago,” Brady wrote in The Sun.
“How much we would like to keep Declan Rice for that long. He’s definitely the type. Not so very long ago, it would be the thing players hoped for.
“Today players are more mobile, attracted elsewhere by three things — prestige, trophies, money. No, sorry, there is a fourth. They are called agents and too many of them regard one-clubbers as a waste of money.”
Manchester City reportedly see Rice as the perfect replacement for the ageing Fernandinho, and it would prove almost impossible for West Ham to be able to hold on to their prized possession for much longer.
The 20-year-old arrived West Ham in 2014 having been released by Chelsea after eight years with the youth ranks, but it didn’t take long for him to impress, signing his first professional contract with the club just a year after joining.
Rice has since established himself as a key player for the Hammers since his full debut in August 2017, featuring in 53 Premier League games.
The youngster recently switched the Republic of Ireland for England at senior level and is expected to become a major part of manager Gareth Southgate’s plans going forward.
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