Owen Hargreaves has said Declan Rice "would be great for Manchester United" ahead of the summer transfer window.
Rice has just finished a superb season for West Ham, captaining the team in the Premier League on 29 occasions as he led his team to a sixth-placed finish and a Europa League campaign.
The England international missed six key games for the Hammers as they looked to maintain a Champions League challenge through April and into May.
Of those six matches, West Ham lost three, including the key clash with Chelsea. Had the Hammers avoided defeat in that match David Moyes' team would have finished the season above the Blues and only one goal behind Leicester City on goal difference.
With Rice starring for both West Ham and England, it is no surprise to see him linked with a move to a Champions League-level club and Hargreaves believes the 22-year-old would be the perfect fit for Manchester United.
"Declan's a great player," Hargreaves told the Manchester Evening News. "I don't think he gets enough credit for his talent and I don't know why that is. Declan would be great for United. In fact, he can play at centre-back, too, you could play him in a back three as well.
"I don't think people realise how big Declan Rice is. I interviewed him not too long ago and I said, 'I don't think people realise!' He's like 6ft 2, 6ft 3. So, physically he's a big presence in there."
And Hargreaves already has a plan for where Manchester United would use Rice in their team.
"That defensive guard - whoever plays behind them - needs to be a hell of a player," he said.
"Because you have to cover a hell of a lot of ground and you've got to do a hell of a lot of work. Right now, one guy can't do that on his own. We've seen that.
"Maybe this summer you can go and find that guy that can do that and then, for me, you've got to look at the team that you have and you've got to build around your best players. Bruno [Fernandes] and Pogba are your best players, with Marcus [Rashford] and Cavani."
Hargreaves might think Rice is the perfect signing or Manchester United but David Moyes has no intention of letting his star midfielder leave the club this summer.
"I don't think David Sullivan, David Gold or myself have any intention of losing Declan Rice," Moyes said after his team had secured a Europa League spot.
"We have just qualified for Europe, I think it is a brilliant achievement and Declan is a big part of that and we want him to be a big part of what we do next year as well."
