Declan Rice believes that 'best friend' Mason Mount is capable of scoring in every game this season after they were reunited on the international front and both featured in England's 4-0 win over Bulgaria on Saturday.
Chelsea midfielder Mount was a 67th minute substitute at Wembley, and he described it as a 'dream' to make his England debut alongside Rice.
The pair are hoping to get a few more International minutes under their belt as England play Kosovo on Tuesday in their Euro 2020 qualifier in Southampton.
Rice and Mount's special friendship formed at Chelsea's academy, but the former left for West Ham in 2014 and represented the Republic of Ireland, before switching allegiance to England earlier this year.
Despite Rice moving onto West Ham, the two have maintained a special friendship, and the Hammers star revealed that he never imagined playing with Mount for England.
“From the moment he was lined up to come on, I had a smile on my face,” Rice told the Evening Standard. “When he ran out to the reception he got, it was really special. I felt like a proud best friend.
“I thought this would be the last way of us playing together again. You’d think we’d maybe rekindle at a club somewhere but for it to come with England is really special. It’s the best way to do it.
“We never spoke about the possibility until this summer. The season he had [on loan] at Derby was outstanding, he did really well with the Under-21s and the call-up from Gareth [Southgate] was waiting for him.
“When we were on holiday together this summer we said, ‘What if it happens?’ with a smile on our faces. When the squad came out, we phoned each other, we were really happy.
“Since we were young, we’ve always been egging each other on to get better. We’ve always had a winning mentality. We went our separate ways but always stayed in contact, dropped each other a message now and then.
“It just shows the type of character he is that he came on and did excellently. He fully deserves it.”
Mount's performances have been one of the only positives that Chelsea can take from the start of this season, and Rice isn't surprised at all by his form.
“I’ve said to loads of people, he could score in every game if he wanted to. I can tell he’s training with Frank and they’re working really well because he’s like a second striker, making those runs which Lampard used to do. He’s going to keep doing that at Chelsea for years.”
The emergence of Mount has increased competition in Gareth Southgate's midfield, but the West Ham midfielder only sees this competition in a positive way.
“When you put on the shirt, you want to keep it,” Rice said. “But we’ve got healthy competition and it’s encouraging for the next generation that Gareth keeps the faith if you play well. Kosovo are unbeaten in 14 games and we can’t overlook them.”