A number of West Ham supporters have criticised West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell after he insisted Declan Rice - who has been heavily linked with a move away from the club this summer - would benefit from leaving east London.
Rice, who is rated around the £50million mark has been serially linked with clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea in recent weeks and is expected to leave West Ham this summer.Yet no-one expected one of his team mates to appear on a national radio show and suggest - whether inadvertently or otherwise - that the 21-year-old's career would probably benefit from such a move!
Cresswell, speaking in conversation with TalkSport on Tuesday morning insisted that he'd like Rice to remain at the club. Yet it was his words regarding a possible move - and featuring alongside "better players" - that have left many supporters annoyed.
"He’s close to 100 Premier League games already, and I’m not just saying that because he’s a West Ham player and a good mate of mine, but I really do believe he’s one of the top talents in the country," said Cresswell.
"I wouldn’t like to see him leave, but if he were to ever leave he would become another level with better players around him.
"He’s come in at centre-back over the last couple of games due to injuries we’ve had and he can play either. It’s a great option he’s got but in terms of ability-wise, he’s a fantastic player."
And following those comments social media has been ablaze with criticism for Cresswell, who had been accused by many fans of undermining West Ham's attempts to avoid relegation.
Focusing on the forthcoming London derby with Chelsea, a game which West Ham go into as huge underdogs, Cresswell insisted he was "hopeful" of getting a result.
"It’s a little bit tough at the minute for obvious reasons, as we’re down at the bottom of the table," he added. "It’s not the position we would like with a few games to go and now it’s the pressure end of the season and we’ve got to be focused and ready for our next game.
"It’s obvious we need wins. We haven’t had any points since the restart, but the results elsewhere have gone our way. We’ve got a tough game on Wednesday and hopefully we can capitalise and that would put us three points ahead of the bottom three.
"Hopefully, if we can get a result against Chelsea, that will give us a big boost that we need going into the next few games over the short space of time we’re going to be playing."
* Was Cresswell out of line - or is the furore over his Rice comments just a storm in a (social media-shaped) teacup? Let us know what you think via the KUMB Forum.
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