Liverpool hero Graeme Souness blasts Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham

Former Liverpool skipper Graeme Souness highlighted problems with England trio Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham in a recent episode of William Hill's Three Up Front podcast.

Souness said that Rice was overpriced at £100million when Arsenal signed him from West Ham from last year, as he claimed that only world-class players should be signed for such lofty fees.

“When you talk about players who are overhyped, you also have to factor in transfer fees, and Declan Rice comes to mind," Souness said. "I don’t think he is worth the £100 million that Arsenal paid for him. I would also mention Jack Grealish in that conversation.‌

“£100m is a lot of money and for that you’re looking at signing a world-class footballer. My definition of that is someone who gets into any team in the world. I think there are only a handful of world-class players in the Premier League at any one time.”

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Meanwhile, Souness suggested that Bellingham is at risk of not reaching his potential due to the hype and expectation that surrounds him.

After host Simon Jordan suggested that Bellingham is overhyped, Souness said: “It’s a major problem within English football. We give young players too much, too soon. That’s the beginning of the end for some of them because they surround themselves with the wrong people and listen to them. They’re overhyped, they start to believe everything everyone says about them and they stop learning.”

Lastly, Souness said that Rashford is not fulfilling his potential at Manchester United. Rashford enjoyed a fruitful 2022-23 campaign but regressed alarmingly last term, leading to questions over whether he will ever be a reliably performer for the Old Trafford club.

“I don’t consider Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United career to be great,” said Souness. “He’s a young man with enormous potential, but it looks like it’s a burden for him to turn up on a Saturday and play for 90 minutes.

‌“When I think about Rashford, I don’t think about the wonderful goals or his pace; I think about things like the game against Luton last season. He was just jogging around and Ross Barkley ran around him three or four times.”