West Ham and England midfielder Declan Rice has revealed that things almost played out very differently for him in his career at the Hammers.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Rice revealed that he almost joined Aston Villa on loan last season, before then breaking into the first team at West Ham.
Since then, Rice has become a regular for both West Ham and England, after switching his international loyalties to the Three Lions.
Rice said that he almost wanted to go out on loan after being subbed off at Anfield for West Ham.
I wanted to go to Aston Villa under Steve Bruce.
I remember speaking to Ryan Fredericks on the plane on the way home, and I was thinking that I should go on loan. Being dragged off at Anfield and then being left out of the squad for the next couple of matches, it really made me think.
West Brom, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa wanted me. I was pushing for Villa the most. I remember speaking to the manager here, saying that I should go on loan. He just laughed it off and said, ‘You’re not going on loan!’ He said, ‘You’re going to stay, and you’re going to play’. He told me that I had to get back into the team.
I thought, ‘Well, if I’m not going to go on loan, then I have to give it everything here’. I realised that I needed to get much better if I wanted to play in the Premier League.
Read ASton Villa’s verdict
Having a player of Rice’s calibre at Aston Villa would have surely been a great get last season.
Villa’s midfield would have been loaded with players such as Hourihane, McGinn, Grealish and Rice in the team.
However, playing under Steve Bruce may have not done Rice’s career as much good.
Villa were noticeably bad in Bruce’s final few months in the job, and Rice certainly wouldn’t have been in the England squad playing in that side.
Maybe he would’ve been another to have a revival under Dean Smith, but the fact remains that, as a player, Rice has done better by staying at West Ham.
