Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson says Declan Rice is worth the £105m Arsenal paid for him.

Hodgson was speaking before last night's 1-0 defeat to the Gunners.

He said, "I think it [central midfield] has always been big," said Hodgson when asked about the fee the north Londoners pay for the former Hammers skipper. "I don't think it's anything new. You will never be able to align it to centre forward because centre forwards will always be right up there as really big ones.

"It's still Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe that go beyond our £100million here. Harry Kane, yes he cost just over £100million, but only because he was in the last year of his contract. If he'd have had a three-year contract, Tottenham would have been asking for a lot more money. They score the goals. The game is about goals.

"But I think the midfield area is an area where people within football have always understood the importance of it and the importance of getting good players in, none more so than Sir Alex [Ferguson] at Manchester United because he always had really, really top-class players in that centre of midfield, all of whom brought him trophies."

Hodgson added: "[Rice] has got strength, he's got energy, he understands the game very well.

"He gets from box to box, and when he's in each of the boxes, he does a really good job. He knows how to defend and he also has an eye for goal, so really he's the type of player that every person is looking for."