David Moyes confident of keeping Declan Rice at West Ham
West Ham boss David Moyes has stated that he believes highly sought-after midfielder Declan Rice will be at the club for next season.
Rice, who is set to be England’s first-choice midfielder at the Euros next month, has a busy summer ahead of him.
Once he’s fulfilled his international commitments, he will have the small matter of sorting out his immediate future, given the links to Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Premier League duo have been linked with the midfielder for a while and there have even been talks of including Tammy Abraham and Jesse Lingard as sweeteners to smoothen the deal.
However, despite all the noise surrounding Rice’s future, Moyes believes he will be at the London Club next season.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, the Scot said, “I don’t think it will be difficult to keep hold of him because he is under contract. So we don’t have a concern about that.
“I believe that Declan will stay because he is part of something that he is growing in. He is one of the new group of players, him and Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal.
“Declan is in a position where people will be looking at him. He is a terrific boy. He conducts himself really well.
“I want him to stay as long as he wants to stay. I like him. He is a really big part of what we do. Like all players, I’m not selling any of them if I have my way.”
Amazing news
To be honest, we’re tired of the ‘will he, won’t he?’ shebang surrounding Rice and a potential big-money transfer away from West Ham this summer.
The media may be having a field day, but these sort of things can affect players, especially at a time when there are so many expectations on them to deliver at an international tournament.
Moyes coming out and saying this certainly puts us at ease and he’s probably had conversations in private with Rice who’s likely to have assured him about his future.
As of now, all we can hope is that Chelsea and Man United cool their interest, while Rice goes on to have an incredible tournament for the Three Lions before he joins our pre-season training after his vacation period.
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