Manuel Pellegrini insists Declan Rice is England’s best defensive midfielder and compared the West Ham starlet to Javier Mascherano.
The 20-year-old controversially switched nationalities from the Republic of Ireland last week, despite making four senior appearances for the Boys in Green.
Born in London with Irish grandparents, Rice only appeared in friendly fixtures so FIFA regulations allow him to switch.
The former Chelsea youth starlet is set to make his 60th appearance for the Hammers tonight against Fulham and Pellegrini believes he is ready to make the jump to the national side.
The Chilean said: “He is ready to play for England. We are just starting the development of him as a player.
“But at this moment his performances are better than every holding midfielder.
“At least I am talking about the English players. Maybe there are other foreign players in big teams also playing well, like Fernandinho.
“But I repeat we are just starting to see what will be with Declan in the future.
“He is improving in a lot of different things in that position. Maybe he must improve more and have a better view of the pitch but he has such good technique that he never misses a pass.
“He is always keeping his position in the correct moment so as a young player he will always be learning more things, but at this moment he is a complete player.”
During his time as River Plate boss, Pellegrini managed a 17-year-old Javier Mascherano and says Rice reminds him of the former Barcelona star.
He added: “Mascherano at 17 was similar to Declan in his mentality — they seem to have the mentality of a 35-year-old.
“But Declan knows he is just starting and that is important.
“He is always listening when you talk to him and always trying to learn from others with more experience.”