Manchester United legend Roy Keane seemed unsure that getting Declan Rice will be the right move for his former team. The midfielder might be a talented man on the pitch but Keane said the West Ham player lacks one important thing - consistency during gameplay.
The Red Devils are said to be plotting a move by Rice to Old Trafford and willing to shell out £80 million for the transfer to take place in January, Metro reported.
However, the former England captain has his reservations on the supposed transfer target by United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Keane explained that one thing going against Rice is the lack of consistency. He stressed that the West Ham star must work harder to improve.
"Where he needs to improve, where do you want me to start? His positional play, I don't think he's been consistent enough, he doesn't stay with runners, he's sloppy in possession, I can go on," the United icon was reported as saying.
Keane added that United must realize that Rice "has not been consistent at West Ham."
As if supporting the position taken by the United hero, the Mirror reported that indeed Rice played when England defeated Kosovo but he was outshone by another midfielder, Tottenham's Harry Winks. Winks ended up being named the Man of the Match.
It was apparent too that Rice has not been a big boost in West Ham's current campaign in the Premier League. His club has so far only won two games in six outings and unlikely to advance further in the competition if things do not improve soon.
And despite England's complete domination of Kosovo at a Euro 2020 qualifier on Sunday, the match clearly showed that Rice seemed to lack "football intelligence," according to Keane.
In the game, Rice appeared to be committing the same mistakes that one can only wonder if he has the capacity to realize the blunders and learn from them. It seemed unlikely that the West Ham midfielder has the resolve to improve, Keane observed.
"Rice's body language even is wrong at set-pieces, he's on his heels and then jogs out. Rice keeps making the same mistakes, you do have to worry about his football intelligence," The Daily Mail reported Keane as saying.
A fellow pundit, Lee Dixon, agreed with the former United star. Dixon scored Rice's sense of focus or the lack of it, adding that with the way Rice operates on the pitch England will struggle to play against stronger teams.
"I just think against the better teams we're vulnerable on the back of that player, which was Rice today. That little triangle of midfielders is really important," Dixon said.
