In his latest regular YouTube update Fabrizio Romano has heavily suggested that this summer will be when we see Declan Rice finally leave West Ham. Newcastle United have been linked with the England international should they qualify for the Champions League.
Competition for Rice’s signature will be fierce, as will the transfer fee. West Ham will not be short of offers with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United interested in the England star.
Fabrizio Romano named Arsenal and Chelsea in his YouTube video, but also mentioned that there are many clubs hovering around, saying: “I can confirm that many clubs still love Declan Rice he’s super appreciated on the market. Arsenal internally, they really appreciate the player and has discussed Declan Rice as one of the players they like for that position.
“Same for Chelsea, we know the connection between Chelsea and Declan Rice. At the moment nothing has been discussed with West Ham. A lot will depend on West Ham, how much they will ask in the summer.
“The feeling around Declan Rice is that summer 2023 is the time for him to try something different.”
Sky Sports claimed that Manchester United lodged a £100million bid for the midfielder last summer which was turned away by the Hammers.
We’ve often seen such figures bandied around by West Ham when the interest in Rice has got to fever-pitch as they do all they can to keep their star man at the London Stadium, but it now looks like they’ve held on as long as they can.
There’s still debate as to whether Rice is worth a £100million price-tag, but we know there’s a premium on English talent. Even though it feels like Rice has been around since time began, he’s only just turned 24 so still has his best years ahead of him. He’s got bags of Premier League experience, has captained West Ham and performed at the highest level for England at the World Cup.
Come summer he’ll only have one year remaining on his West Ham deal, but they will still feel they can command a high fee.
If Newcastle were to qualify for the Champions League they could find themselves as a tempting prospect for someone like Declan Rice. While he could definitely get into the team at any top six club, there’d be a feeling there that he may not be an automatic selection every week.
Rice would breeze into our starting eleven as it stands, and as Newcastle look to build a team around Bruno Guimaraes, Rice would be a perfect fit. His defensive tendencies would allow Bruno to roam more freely which is exactly what we need.
As with a lot of the players we’re linked with lately, the price and wage demands are the biggest issue. There’s no doubt that our project is enticing for players, but because it’s still so early on, we’ve not yet build up that magic cushion with regards to FFP that Chelsea have so expertly taken advantage of this season.
That means Dan Ashworth and Co will have to meticulously comb over every single transfer they try to do this summer to maximise the talent we bring in and minimise the outlay and the damage to our Financial Fair Play buffer.
As much as I’d love to see Declan Rice at Newcastle I think one of the other London clubs will snap him up.
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