Arsenal desperate for West Ham United captain Declan Rice, confident in deal for £30million off David Moyes asking price
Arsenal are “quietly confident” they can sign West Ham captain Declan Rice for as little as £75million this summer despite their “financial muscle”, says Ben Jacobs.
The England star will have just a year left on his current contract come the end of the season, and although the Hammers have an option to extend it another 12-months there is a growing expectation they will let him leave in the next window.
The bidding for the 24-year-old was thought to begin at £105million [Mail, 5 February] after David Moyes claimed he would “undoubtedly” be a British record sale in the wake of Chelsea’s £106.8million move for Enzo Fernandez in January, but the league-leaders, as well as the previous record-breakers, are apparently looking a long way short of that number even if they have the ability to pay it.
CBS journalist Jacobs told GIVEMESPORT: “I think that suitors like Arsenal and Chelsea, who may even be in the race as well, are quietly confident that they can get a player like Declan Rice for something between £75m and £80m, which sounds like a lot of money, but I think Arsenal see that as value. And I think that summarises how they’ll act in the summer generally.
“It’s not about how much they spend because they will have that financial muscle. It’s about finding value in the market and that’s always been Arsenal’s model.
“I don’t expect that to change regardless of winning the Champions League or the Premier League. They’ve never wanted to put it out there in the market that they’re prepared to spend wildly above the odds, even on a player that they so desperately want.”
Break the bank
Whatever the fee ends up being it is likely to be disappointing to a lot of West Ham fans who have got used to the idea that they have a prized asset in their ranks.
That is certainly true, but after Moyes was talking up a £150million fee this time last year [The Athletic, 2 April] it was only going to go down from there unless a new contract was signed.
Rice rejected a massive eight-year extension at the end of last season [Sky Sports, 12 May] that would have undoubtedly boosted his value a great deal, but there was very little prospect of him ever signing it given his stated desire to play in the Champions League.
He is arguably been vindicated in that stance, as the Hammers have regressed worryingly this season, although Rice obviously bears some responsibility for that himself as the captain.
If he is interested in a return to Chelsea it is surely going to be a contract along similar lines that’s on offer there, such are the tactics of the Todd Boehly regime in balancing out their immense spending with extra-long deals.
More responsible for the performance this year than Rice is clearly Moyes, so while he has done a good line in talking up Rice’s market value as Irons boss it might not be too long before he is no longer in a position to have any influence on the matter anyway, with a preferred replacement apparently now identified.
But if there are multiple clubs battling it out for his signature in the summer, especially if one of them is Chelsea, there is precedent in holding out for what West Ham think the midfielder is worth, just as Shakhtar Donetsk did when the Blues and the Gunners were after Mykhailo Mudryk and ultimately got what they wanted.