West Ham boss David Moyes feels they've made their midfield stronger after the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal.

Rice faces his former club tonight and Moyes believes the £105m deal worked well for all parties involved.

He said: "We're all pleased for Declan Rice. No one ever doubted his ability and, while we won't be cheering him on against us on Thursday evening, we're always looking out for him.

"I said right from the start that I thought Declan Rice was a top player and I thought his value could have been greater. We got the price we wanted though, and Dec got the move he wanted, so it was a move that worked for both parties.

"I think Declan would make any team more mature and improve any team in the Premier League so I think their current levels are partially to do with him right now.

"From our standpoint, we had to go again and it can make you stronger and make you grow. In many ways, that's what we've done. We've had to go out and find new players, who we thought could help us, and I think we've done it well."

On the Christmas schedule, Moyes added: "Playing at this time of year is the culture in this country. It's something that we want to uphold and keep. We're all used to playing at this time of year. I think, in truth, we probably don't like it because we're playing too many games, but this is what we do in this country.

"You come here and we play over Christmas time and there isn't much break. That's part of football in the Premier League. I think, for some of the boys coming from overseas, it can be a bit of a shock. They may have come from countries that have winter breaks, but we've got lots of games at this time of year."