West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini is delighted with the progress of Declan Rice this season.

In Saturday's win over Crystal Palace, the 19-year-old showed off his full range of abilities, tackling immaculately and passing the ball with outstanding vision and technique, impressing his manager hugely yet again.

“I think that Declan has a great future," said Pellegrini. “He's a very mature player for 19-years-old and it's not easy. He needs to learn a lot about how to play better in that position.

“But in every ball, he gives his all for 95 minutes. He has good recovery and a good technique, so I think we are seeing a player who we will talk about a lot in the future years.

“I think that he must try to have a better technique. He plays in a tactical position, maybe the most tactical position on the team because he must be involved in defending and covering all the space in front of the defensive line and on the other side he must adapt with good technique.

“I think he must have both things and he will do it better with every game he plays.

“Every player who is here has good people around them. As with every player, I think he must continue to try and improve with every game he plays."