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Tony Cottee has claimed that he prefers West Ham’s Declan Rice over Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson.

Rice, 22, has become a driving force for the Hammers in the past couple of years, and has a growing reputation as one of the elite defensive midfielders across the entire Premier League.

Meanwhile, £20million (BBC) midfielder Henderson has been on the top of his game in recent years, lifting both the Premier League and Champions League as the Liverpool club captain.

Pundit and ex-Hammers forward Cottee has favoured though the West Ham ace over his midfield English counterpart.

“The reason he’s playing for England is he’s the best player in that position, and I include Jordan Henderson in that as well,” Cottee told West Ham Fan TV.

“If you’ve got to pick a player [from those two], you’ve got to pick Dec in front of Jordan Henderson. That’s how well he’s doing. That’s a great compliment because Jordan has really improved, he’s a top player, captain of Liverpool etc.”

TBR’s View:

If both are fully fit at this summer’s European Championships, a Rice-Henderson combination in midfield seems fairly likely to be deployed by England boss Gareth Southgate.

Rice is doing a superb job as a stand-in captain at the London Stadium whenever Mark Noble is not on the pitch, and it’s easy to forget he’s aged just 22.

There is no doubt though he will look at 30-year-old Henderson for what he’s achieved at Anfield during the last decade.

England aren’t blessed with the kind of depth in midfield they have in other areas of the pitch, but have two quality midfielders available to them in Rice and Henderson.