Declan Rice has been informed that he will be given a fast route to the England senior side if he opts to commit his international future to the country of his birth. Declan Rice has been informed that he will be given a fast route to the England senior side if he opts to commit his international future to the country of his birth. O'Neill later confirmed that London-born Rice had spoken to Gareth Southgate and his England set-up about switching his international allegiances away from Ireland and a source has now told Independent.ie that the 19-year-old could be named in an England training squad for a friendly in November. The loss of Rice would be a huge blow to O'Neill and the Ireland set-up, with impressive performances in his senior international appearances backed up by some stellar displays in the Premier League over the last year. With West Ham's top earners Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic both reported collecting around £100,000-a-week, the reported offer made to first team regular Rice is put into some perspective.

Source: Irish Independent September 25, 2018 11:09 UTC