Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, Frank McAvennie said that West Ham should consider bringing in Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips and utilizing current player Lucas Paqueta in a more suitable position to fill the void left by the expected departure of Declan Rice this summer.
Rice is rumored to be leaving the London Stadium for Arsenal in a deal that could fetch £100m. Even though Rice’s exit seems inevitable, his departure will create a significant gap in the team. McAvennie suggests that West Ham should reposition Paqueta to his more preferred role and add Phillips to the squad to strengthen it.
“Of course he will but they’ve got to have somebody beside Paqueta, like a [Kalvin] Phillips,”
“Soucek, no. Soucek’s a good player and he might come into his own when Declan is not there.
“Paqueta, I don’t get David. He said ‘he’s now becoming the player we thought he was, it took him a while to adjust to the league’. Do me a favour, it’s a game of football. How does it take you a year to get adjusted to football?
“He’s from Brazil, they kick lumps out of you. They learn how to play football on the beach. My God, I’m sure he can play on the wonderful surface of the London Stadium.
“I just think he’s a wonderful talent.“