West Ham captain Zouma: Ward-Prowse and Alvarez helping us forget about Rice

West Ham captain Kurt Zouma insists they've managed to replace Declan Rice after his departure for Arsenal.

Zouma succeeded Rice as club captain after the latter's sale to Arsenal.

He said, "We lost an important player in the summer in Declan Rice. But I think the replacements we made have been very clever and we can feel how that didn't affect us. He is a great player who made some amazing games here and he will always be remembered here, but he is an opponent now.

"The players who have come in have bought into the project at West Ham. They have bought into the tactics and settled very quickly. They are helping us make a good start to the season. Everybody understands the way we play.

"Last year it was different because we had a lot of new players who came at the same time who were new to the Premier League. But this year we have players, for example James Ward-Prowse, who knows the league very well. Edson Alvarez is someone who you feel never stops running and this is the type of player we need in the team. The top players we have brought in have had help from us and they have fitted in right away."