West Ham great Tony Cottee has urged the club to upgrade Declan Rice's contract.

Rice, 21, still has three years on his deal but is the club captain-in-waiting and fancied by bigger teams such as Chelsea.

Former striker Cottee, 55, told The Sun: “As far as I'm concerned the only two signings to be bothered about are David Moyes and Declan.

“I'm pretty sure that even now, with his elevated status, Dec will not be earning the same kind of money as the top men in the squad.

“But he's their most valuable player and in time will become the next captain after Mark Noble.

“I know he signed a five-year deal not so long ago but get him tied down and up there with the bigger earners and make him a bedrock of the future team.

“We all know other teams are interested. West Ham should be acting to secure Declan, so he is not allowed to drift into the last two years of his contract and possibly leave on a free transfer."