David Moyes admits West Ham need to win trophies to keep Declan Rice
West Ham need to bring in good players and win trophies to keep hold of midfield star Declan Rice admits manager David Moyes.
The England star is widely reported to be on the list of targets for the likes of Manchester United, City and Chelsea, while the Hammers have reportedly priced him at £150million according to the Daily Mail.
Debate has swirled since a barren January transfer window apparently helped push the 23-year-old towards the exit in the search of trophies (Telegraph), with the ambition of the club coming into question.
In an interview for The Athletic Alan Shearer asked the Scot if he needs to win trophies to keep the player, who replied: “Probably we do, yeah, so we’ve got to keep driving it on. I have to keep driving and demanding that we keep moving on and being positive in our outlook of where we’re going to be.
“I need to keep adding good players, which is part of the club’s responsibility to keep with it.
“But the good thing is that we’ve got him for another three and a half years on his contract (until June 2024 with the option of an additional year), so we’re not under pressure from that.
“We would love him to stay, he’s so important to us, but like everything else we have to show that we can do it as well at West Ham.”
Saga
Unless or until either a transfer happens or Rice commits his future to the Irons this question will never go away.
The failure to strengthen in January looked at the time to have put the writing on the wall for the hopes of success this season, and the chances of the game-day captain leaving.
The continued participation in Europe, coupled with the turmoil at prime candidates Chelsea has perhaps tempered that slightly.
Moyes faces keeping an unhappy player at the club if he relies entirely on the length of the remaining contract.
He certainly seems to see the challenge of quality signings and winning trophies as one that spans past the summer despite the Rice speculation.
But the club is on a special run in the Europa League, and the dream scenario of a trophy and Champions League qualification is not off the table, which would immediately change the scenario.
In other West Ham news, the club could be punished by UEFA unless they make changes in enough time.
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