By Sam Stone

26th Mar, 2023 | 1:10pm

Declan Rice exit from West Ham '100%' amid unusual turn of events - BBC pundit

Danny Murphy has claimed Declan Rice is “100 per cent ready” to leave West Ham as speculation over his future continues to swirl.

Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg revealed (via Twitter, 16 March) the 24-year-old is still a top midfield candidate for Chelsea as Todd Boehly looks to continue his revolution at Stamford Bridge.

Murphy has suggested in his latest Daily Mail column (25 March) that Rice is just one of a number of English stars who face uncertain futures at their respective clubs.

“It’s unusual to have so many England stars all facing an uncertain future at the same time,” wrote the BBC Match of the Day pundit (The Mail, 25 March).

“He’s [Rice] 100 per cent ready to move to the next level and at 24 won’t want to wait any longer for Champions League football.”

Hectic

Murphy is right, there are a number of English players who could be on the move in the summer and the West Ham skipper departing could well cause a chain reaction in terms of transfers. We know Chelsea have been long-term admirers of the 24-year-old, but a move to Manchester City or Arsenal cannot be ruled out.

West Ham will clearly need a replacement. Kalvin Phillips has struggled for game time since moving to Pep Guardiola’s side and could well be destined to depart The Etihad; West Ham would be the obvious destination.

Fans have now accepted that Rice is almost certain to leave the club this summer and it’s hard to begrudge him. He’s a player who should be fighting for the biggest accolades in World football, which is not possible at the London Stadium at present.

Furthermore, with his contract running down, this is the club’s last chance to recoup somewhere near their valuation of the England international.