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Darren Bent suggests no one will pay more than 'ridiculous' £100m for West Ham's Declan Rice
West Ham will struggle to get £100million for Declan Rice, according to talkSPORT pundit Darren Bent.
The former Premier League striker believes the England international’s value is nearer £80million at present.
As reported by talkSPORT on Wednesday [11, May], West Ham have offered Rice an eight-year contract worth £200,000-a-week.
Talking on talkSPORT Drivetime [11 May], Bent said: “For me, Kante has set the standard for holding midfield players.
“Then you look at someone in a completely different mould like Sergio Busquets, he’s someone that controls games and gets on the ball.
“So I look at Declan Rice as somewhere in between those two players.”
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Bent added: “For West Ham, he’s worth £100million, if not more.
“I can’t see where you’ll find someone who will pay £100million for Declan Rice.
“£100million because he’s English is ridiculous.
“£80million [is what he’s worth].”
Bent has a point
There is no doubt that Rice is worth every bit of £100million to West Ham United.
However, transfer fees north of £100million are usually saved for attacking players.
Rice is a superb box-to-box midfielder there is no denying that but which side will fork out £100 million for a player who will have a limited attacking output.
Great midfielders such as Kante, Toni Kroos, Busquets, Luka Modric, Rodri and Fernandinho all provide a similar role to the England midfielder, with none of them costing anywhere near £100 million.
The saga around Rice’s price tag is because of his importance to West Ham and him being a young English talent.
It is peculiar why English players seem to be worth more purely based on their nationality, but it is certainly something that has been considered in Rice’s valuation.
With two years left on Rice’s current deal, the Hammers could command a reasonably high fee for the midfielder if they were to cash in on him this summer.
The Irons must remember not to fixate on the Rice situation, as there are plenty of other areas of their squad that they need to improve on this summer.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers keen to sign highly-rated defender with £44m release clause.
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