While praising the Arsenal star's application and immense athleticism, Souness bluntly suggested Rice is better suited to central defence due to a perceived lack of vision.
Souness continued: "He's a proper midfield player. I think these two young lads - certainly in Anderson's case, young lad - are limited. Declan Rice, for me, limited. You hear people talk about Declan Rice, 'a world-class footballer'... I think he might be a centre-half.
"There's nothing to dislike about him in terms of his attitude to the game, nothing to dislike about him in his athleticism, nothing to dislike about him in his commitment from the first minute to the last minute.
"My criticism of him is he doesn't have enough football in him. They talk about, 'look how he runs with the ball'. As a centre midfielder, you shouldn't do [it]. And the reason people run with the ball is they don't see the picture quick enough...
"You don't wanna carry the ball really well. I've got Declan Rice running with the ball, runs 20 yards, is confronted by an opposition player, the handbrakes goes on and he passes it square."