Mark Noble: If a top club wants Declan Rice they will just pay for him

West Ham’s new sporting director on competing with giants, youthful selfishness, Lionel Messi, and why he expects more countries to buy clubs

RETIRED: West Ham have announced that Mark Noble is to return to the club in the role of sporting director. 

As Mark Noble considers the enormous task he will face in his new role as West Ham’s sporting director, he shares his belief that, “in the next 10 to 15 years probably half of the Premier League’s teams will be owned by countries”. Noble played more than 500 games for West Ham, from 2004 to May this year, and the consistency and loyalty of that commitment stand in sharp contrast with the outlandish riches which will transform the Premier League much further.

“People love football, globally,” Noble says as he prepares to begin his challenging position in January. “Other sports are fantastic but they don’t [generate] that affection, yes obsession, we have with football. I’m talking about countries that people don’t even know exist which love football.”