"If Declan Rice hadn't changed his international allegiance to England, he'd be getting next to no recognition" — Dwight Yorke

FORMER UNITED FORWARD DWIGHT YORKE believes that Declan Rice gets more praise and love in football than he should because of his nationality.

Rice's ability and talent has been questioned by pundits over the last week and Yorke is the latest former United player to have his say on the West Ham midfielder.

Roy Keane, speaking before the West Ham-Manchester United FA Cup tie claimed that Rice had to do more to justify the hype around his talent.

Gary Neville agreed with Keane's sentiment and said, "I wouldn’t be spending £110 million on Declan Rice if I was Man United this summer. I would if it was £50 million, but not what’s being reported. Because I feel like he has got a lot of growth.”

Declan Rice after scoring his first West ham goal against Arsenal (Image: Getty)

Rice himself fired back after West Ham's heavy 4-0 defeat away at Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend.

"I don't really listen to the opinions of other people, because if they were experts they would be playing on the pitch, but they're not, so," the Hammers captain said.

"So, I just keep my head down, so do all the lads. We listen to ourselves, we listen to the people around us, we stick together as a group, and we move onto the next one.

"Like I said, we know it wasn't good enough."

Yorke speaking to Premier League Odds and Boylesports claimed that if Rice played in an Irish shirt the hype and attention wouldn't be half as high from the English media.

Rice played for Ireland's underage sides and decided to commit to Gareth Southgate's side after a long drawn out battle between the nations.

"Declan Rice isn't in Roy Keane's bracket. He's very good and I know that all the English fans big him up, but he doesn't influence games much. He does good things but he's not a Scholesy," said the former United forward.

"He'll never be anywhere near as good as Roy Keane. He's a good player, who plays well for England and does well enough for West Ham.

"I get why the media are raving about him because he's English, but if he was foreign then he'd be deemed as just a good player.

"You pay £100million+ for players who can split teams apart with their passing and I don't see that from Rice. I see a dogged midfielder who gets his foot stuck in but for that kind of money, you have to do more.

"If he didn't change his international allegiance to England, he'd be getting next to no recognition."

Manchester United play Southampton next Sunday, While West Ham also play Aston Villa on Sunday.