West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini says he always knew Declan Rice was destined for the top

The youngster has admitted he feared he was not good enough for the Premier League and even considered asking Pellegrini for a loan move

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed he was always certain that Declan Rice was destined for the top, even though the midfielder needed some convincing.

Rice, 20, will line up at Old Trafford on Saturday evening having emerged as a transfer target for opponents Manchester United.

Last month he capped an impressive breakthrough season with a first start for England in the 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifying win in Montenegro.

But a Three Lions debut looked a long way away at the start of the campaign, and not just because Rice was a Republic of Ireland international at the time.

On the opening day of the season Rice was hauled off at half-time during a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool.

The youngster has since admitted he feared he was not good enough for the Premier League and considered asking Pellegrini for a loan move.

But after talks with Pellegrini, and with West Ham having started the season with four straight defeats, Rice was restored to the side for the 3-1 win at Everton - and has been there ever since.

"I never expected that Declan was going to go on loan at the beginning of the season," said Pellegrini.

"I don’t why he thought that as he had no options to go on loan. Maybe he was disappointed because he played the first game, we lost, but I spoke with him the same day and told him he was going to be an important player this season.

"Maybe it is a surprise for him, because last season he played not too many games, then starting this season losing and being out of the team for the next game.

"Maybe he thought that. I never had any doubt about that."

Rice, along with his team-mates, struggled to handle Chelsea and Eden Hazard in a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

Declan Rice is a man in demand (Reuters)

Nevertheless he is a player in demand, although Pellegrini has been quick to shoot down rumours of a summer exit, insisting: "Declan is a player of our team and is playing very well. He is learning in every game that he plays.

"Chelsea have very good players but I think the performance from Declan against Chelsea is exactly the same as it was against Cardiff."

West Ham have slipped to 11th in the Premier League and are yet to register an away win in 2019.

Pellegrini added: "We always demand more, from the players, from myself and everyone. That is why I am always trying to finish as high in the table as we can. But if you ask me, this has been a good season.

Manuel Pellegrini is up against it this weekend (Getty)

"Nine or 10 games before the end of the season, we were not fighting against relegation. We have had an average of six players injured for every game this season, most of the players who arrived here in the summer, they couldn't play.

"From that point of view it is not a bad season but we must demand, all of us, more and try to reach a higher spot. It is difficult.

"Against United we have to try and repeat what we did in the second half against Chelsea. We played better than Chelsea for most of the second half.

"The only thing we need to do is work harder when we don’t have the ball. After that, when you have the ball you have to try to keep it."

Michail Antonio will return to the West Ham squad having missed the Chelsea game with an ankle injury.

Samir Nasri is out with a calf strain, Andy Carroll's season is over following ankle surgery and Jack Wilshere is building up his fitness with the under-23s.