West Ham United handed Declan Rice £120million boost as ‘staggering’ transfer news at Wolves emerges on Sunday
West Ham are set to be one of the major beneficiaries from the surprise news that Wolves have agreed to sell Ruben Neves to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia for £47million.
Fabrizio Romano reported in The Guardian on Sunday (18 June) that the Portuguese midfielder is set to “finalise” the move this week.
While John Percy in The Telegraph called the transfer development “staggering” the same day, with the 26-year-old “on the brink” of completing the exit.
West Ham stand to reap the rewards as they look to bank the maximum fee possible from their much-anticipated sale of captain Declan Rice.
Arsenal are thought to be leading the race currently but are still to make their second bid, having had a first that totalled £90million with add-ons rejected already.
CBS journalist Ben Jacobs had reported on 21 March that clubs in the running to sign Rice had earmarked Neves as a “cheaper” alternative given he was available for as little as half the price.
The Hammers have long-maintained they want in excess of £100million to sell their skipper, who has a year left on his contract and a club option for another 12-months, with Sky Sports reporting the fee is as high as £120million on 10 May.
Now that Wolves appear to have succeeded in landing the almost-£50million fee Jacobs said they wanted for their own captain, who also had one year left on his contract and whom they were resigned to losing, it can only boost the Irons’ resolve to get the money they want.
There may be little prospect that the fast-developing Saudi boom comes into play directly for Rice, who wants to stay in London and play in the Champions League.
But with huge money moving around the market for midfielders, with Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid move worth up to £115million after add-ons [Sky Sports, 14 June], and another of the alternatives to the West Ham star off the table the position has been strengthened in Stratford.
There are only so many top options at the position to go around, and if teams were thinking they could make a play for Rice and then pick up Neves for half the price if the bidding went too high they now can’t.
The likes of Romeo Lavia at Southampton and Amadou Onana at Everton, as well as Leeds United’s Tyler Adams, have attracted attention around the Premier League, but none are on Rice’s level and are all arguably too young or too inexperienced in the top flight to match Neves.
The latest development at Molineux doesn’t make it certain that West Ham will get their £120million, but the chances of a bidding war retaining the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea towards that number have surely shot up with it.