Since Declan Rice left West Ham in 2023, the Hammers have made signings such as Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez in attempts to replace the England international and the qualities he brought to the side.
Arsenal acquired Rice for £105m, a record transfer fee received by West Ham, and a record transfer fee paid by the Gunners.
Rice made 51 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last season, scoring seven goals, providing ten assists, and contributing to 21 clean sheets in his 4,274 minutes played.
Some Irons supporters may well think he's fallen off since his days as the leader of the pack at the London Stadium but the footballing world would say otherwise. So good was Rice in a Gunners shirt that he's been named among the nominees for the 2024 Ballon d'Or.
Alvarez may have replaced Rice well since but there was another possible alternative who's now already left the club. That man is Flynn Downes.
Flynn Downes at Southampton
Downes spent a wonderful loan spell with Southampton in the Championship last season, making 37 appearances for the Saints, scoring two goals, providing three assists, and contributing to 14 clean sheets in his 2,907 minutes played.
Southampton acted on his excellent loan, making the move permanent this summer, for a fee of around £18m.
Downes has started the season well, despite Southampton's poor start, starting all three games for the Saints and playing 270 minutes across those matches.
Despite exiting the Hammers, he appears to be improving all the time, living up the words of a certain David Moyes below.
Downes vs Rice & Soler comparison
West Ham recently signed Carlos Soler on loan from PSG, another midfielder who can bring certain technical qualities to Julen Lopetegui's midfield group.
Soler made 28 appearances for PSG in all competitions last season, where he supplied four assists and scored twice. It's not quite the numbers Rice totted up admittedly.
However, when you compare Downes with the two of them, you can clearly see the difference in play style between Rice and Soler, and how the new Saints man could have been the happy medium. In fact, in plenty of metrics he trumps the club's exciting summer addition.
Passes Attempted
76.7
58.8
64.3
Pass Completion %
93%
87.1%
85.7%
Key Passes
0.88
0.98
1.64
Progressive Carries
1.70
2.59
1.23
Progressive Passes
4.31
6.62
6.07
Passes into Final Third
4.24
6.60
4.75
Tackles
2.12
2.22
1.23
Blocks
1.10
1.20
0.82
Interceptions
1.61
1.63
0.56
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent's goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
Downes averages the highest passes attempted and pass completion per 90, showing his quality and composure on the ball, something that Lopetegui highlights in his midfield, and a reason Soler has been signed, to add more technical quality in possession.
The 25-year-old Englishman also ranks far closer to the club's former skipper in defensive actions, averaging 2.12 tackles per 90, compared to Rice's 2.22, averages 1.10 blocks, compared to the Arsenal midfielder's 1.20, and averages 1.61 interceptions, compared to Rice's 1.63.
Soler excels more with his creative passing, averaging the most key passes per 90 of the three. The Spaniard also ranks highly for progressive passes per 90, with 6.07. That comes ever so close to Rice's tally of 6.62 per 90.
Whilst Downes only averages 4.31 progressive passes per 90, he does average more progressive carries than Soler, with 1.70 per 90, indicating that he's more fluid when driving forward with the ball.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent's goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Considering West Ham sold Rice for such a substantial fee, Downes could have been their answer to replacing him all along, with a good blend of defensive and on-the-ball qualities, which could have benefited the team in both the short and long term.
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