Joe Cole was a player who made his way through the ranks at West Ham's academy and made his way to the top, though some say he never quite fulfilled his wonderkid potential.
It was somewhat poetic then that it was Cole who presented the next generation of West Ham talent, Declan Rice, his full England cap before the midfielder made his first start for the Three Lions in Montenegro on Monday night. Rice came through the same winding roads in east London as Cole did and much like Cole, West Ham never had any doubts their next star would reach the top.
Make no bones about it, this was the biggest night of Rice's fledgling career. He's bounced back from being dropped twice by the Hammers, once by Slaven Bilic and then by Manuel Pellegrini but has gone on to make 63 senior appearances for his club and he's only just turned 20. The relative calm of making his first appearance for England off the bench at Wembley as they cruised past Czech Republic was a welcome introduction.
But being thrown into the tight confines of Podgorica, there is a different pressure on England away from home despite their outstanding record in qualifying campaigns. It was supposed to be hostile, intimidating, "hellish" was the word used in the build up but Rice made it look anything but that.
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Anyone who has watched the 20-year-old week in, week out this season will not be surprised one iota by that. Rice is the best player to come through the Hammers academy in a generation.
Did he start shakily? Yes, he was making his start for England just three weeks after getting the paperwork through to ratify his switch from Ireland and has already had to apologise for some pro-Ira posts he made on Instagram when he was a kid.
His first touch of the ball in Podgorica was a very heavy one and needed Leicester defender Harry Maguire to bail the youngster out of a sticky situation but after that? Rice grew in confidence with every pass he made.
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He did what he does for West Ham week in, week out - sensed danger, won the ball back quickly, blocked counter attacks, played the ball simple and forward and got back to cover his centre halves. Rice stood in front of the back four like he had been doing it for years. We know Rice has the technical ability but under Manuel Pellegrini, his awareness and vision has improved a hundred times over.
When Michail Keane misjudged a header inside ten minutes, Rice was there to clear the danger. In the second half, the midfielder played his first rash pass of the night and what did he do within a second? Won the ball back.
Rice was expansive when he needed to be, fellow full debutant Callum Hudson-Odoi was a favoured target of his early on, then Raheem Sterling after that as the two swapped flanks. But Rice also kept it simple when it was required, popping a five-yard pass to Ross Barkley to get England on the move, especially after they went 1-0 down in Montengero to Marko Vesovic's fine opener.
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Unflappable, calm, composed, expansive - this was Rice in a nutshell. It was testament to his display that when Jordan Henderson entered the fray on 64 minutes, Rice's position in front of the back four was unchanged and the Liverpool man was told to play further forward.
Hudson-Odoi was also excellent against Montenegro as Gareth Southgate's Three Lions continue to go from strength-to-strength. The Chelsea man needs a club manager who trusts him to play him week in and week out, that is what Rice has with Pellegrini in east London and it shows. Hudson-Odoi is clearly part of England's future, but Rice is already part of the present.
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