West Ham No2 Stuart Pearce rates Declan Rice ahead of Roy Keane at the same age.
Pearce played with Keane at Nottingham Forest before his move to Manchester United.
He told talkSPORT: “Every game he takes the field in, the expectation is he should be the best player. He's got the tools to do that, he's got the stature to do it, he's got everything. He's an absolute pleasure to work with, he drives the midfield.
“I was sat next to Billy McKinlay (West Ham coach) at the weekend and he asked if he was as good as Roy Keane at the same age. I said 'do you know what? I think he might be slightly better.'
“We had Roy with us at Forest before he moved onto Manchester United and I'd have to say he's slightly better than Roy.
“Whether he'll have the career that Roy had… it's all there for him though. He's got to stay fit, keep learning, keep progressing.
"This season we're fortunate that he's added a couple of goals to his game which I always thought he had the ability to do so. He drives past people, he breaks things up, he's just an all-round midfielder.
"He's probably a Bryan Robson of yesteryear."
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