Arsenal and Chelsea lead cut-price race for West Ham United captain Declan Rice
Declan Rice will be sold by West Ham for a “fraction” of the £100million-plus price tag that was quoted last summer, according to Ben Jacobs.
While the club were up for the fight to keep hold of their captain in the previous transfer window, but the CBS journalist believes the situation to be very different this time around and they are now “resigned” to letting him go.
That has brought Arsenal into the equation alongside Chelsea as the player is known to want to remain in London, and a price of £70million to £75million is now more likely, although Manchester United still interested.
Taking over Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive Substack column on Thursday (5 January), Jacobs said: “Sources have said on multiple occasions that Rice would like to stay in London, which opens the door to both Arsenal and Chelsea, perhaps more so than Manchester United. Another issue with United is until the ownership situation changes, we don’t know what kind of budget they’re working on.
“Chelsea’s interest is more concrete than Arsenal’s, but there’s a growing sense that Arsenal might enter the race because the price he’ll be available for is becoming more realistic; it would have been something approaching a Premier League record fee in the summer, but now the landscape has completely changed.”
And while league-leaders Arsenal are virtually guaranteed Champions League football, the Blues are not thought to be out of the running if they miss out on the top competition at the end of the season, due to an “ambitious project built around young players that they want for the long-term”.
Bleak outlook
It’s hardly the news that West Ham fans want with the club struggling so badly this season that £30million or more has gone out of the window on their prized asset.
Some might feel the Irons should have let their star man go last summer for a massive fee if it is inevitable that he leaves a year later and they are going nowhere in the mean time.
But, while Rice hasn’t been at his best this season it is fair to wonder how much worse things might be if he wasn’t in the side.
Neither Chelsea or Arsenal are particularly enjoyable destinations for Hammers fans if Rice is to remain in London, but it looks like they definitely have the inside track on the likes of the Manchester clubs.
And it will be a blow if the 23-year-old ends up leaving for a club that isn’t even in the Champions League, despite the assumption is that the Stamford Bridge side will return to it before long.
If that happens it will demonstrate just how much of a missed opportunity this season is turning into, with David Moyes’ job under threat as West Ham linger above the relegation zone.