John Barnes has claimed Declan Rice would be a ‘good fit’ for Liverpool as he compared the midfielder to captain Jordan Henderson.
Although signing a midfielder to replace Gini Wijnaldum is not thought to be a priority for Liverpool, a host of names have been linked with the Reds from Youri Tielemans to Saul Niguez.
Now Rice is the latest name swirling round on the rumour mill.
Barnes believes his former side should enter the race for the West Ham midfielder after his impressive form at Euro 2020.
Speaking to BonusCodeBets, Barnes said: “There have been suggestions that Declan Rice is a target for Liverpool and he would be a good fit for them. Liverpool like central midfield players who work hard.
“Declan Rice isn’t going to come in and score lots of goals, he’s not going to be creative, he’s not a midfield player like David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne or Ilkay Gundogan, but Liverpool don’t need that.
“The kind of players Liverpool need are players like Rice or Yves Bissouma, hard-working midfield players who get the ball forward, make tackles, win the ball and keep it quite simple.
“He’s similar to Jordan Henderson in that way. So if he wants to come to Liverpool, he has the right profile for them.”
The midfielder is understood to be increasingly open to a move away from the London Stadium but Liverpool will have to go head to head against Manchester United and Chelsea for Rice’s signature this summer.
West Ham will be desperate to hold on to Rice this window and his price tag could be a sticking point for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The Hammers reportedly believe his is now worth more than £100million.
Henderson broke a 62-cap goal drought to open his Three Lions account against Ukraine on Saturday as they booked their place in the last four against Denmark.
But despite making the score-sheet for his country for the first time in the quarter-finals, Henderson is not guaranteed to start in the semi-final clash.
Gareth Southgate has favoured Kalvin Phillips and new rumoured Liverpool target Rice ahead of the Reds skipper.
And the Liverpool legend has been taken with the impressive partnership.
“I’ve said before that the leaders in the team needed to be Kane, Sterling and Maguire, and all of them stepped up in Rome, but the important part of the team are the two midfield players, Phillips and Rice," said Barnes.
"They’re the main reason we haven’t conceded a goal so far.
“Opponents have got at our back four easily at times – look at the Scotland game – but those two players have really protected the back four, so they deserve special credit.
“People are saying they [England] should leave one of them out, because they think the solution is to play more attacking players, but the balance they give the team is so important.”
England will play the Danes tonight in front of 60,000 at Wembley for a place in their first final of a major tournament in 55 years where they will play Italy.
