Declan Rice looks set to leave West Ham this summer amid strong Premier League interest
Declan Rice looks set to leave West Ham this summer, with Arsenal, Chelsea and both Manchester club all interested in the midfielder’s services, according to The Athletic journalist Roshane Thomas.
The 24-year-old hinted [1 December] at a potential exit from West Ham while on international duty with England, sharing his ambitions to win trophies and play in the Champions League.
And a move to one of the top-flight’s most elite clubs may well be on the cards, with Sky Sports [17 January] reporting that the midfielder is expected to have a whole host of suitors this summer.
A report in the Times [16 January] revealed that Premier League leaders Arsenal have made Rice their priority target for the summer transfer window in a potential £80m move.
And according to Thomas, writing for The Athletic [1 February], the Hammers academy star looks set to leave the London Stadium, with a big Premier League move on the horizon.
He wrote: ““Declan Rice, the 24-year-old club captain, looks set to leave this summer with Arsenal, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs interested in the England international. Rice has expressed his desire to play in the Champions League and, given West Ham’s perilous position in the table, this is not something he will achieve in east London.”
Decisive summer
It’s going to be a busy and decisive summer for West Ham, as the club are certainly going to be on the end of another major rebuild.
And the departure of Rice is a big certainty but more crucially, will leave a gaping hole which the club will desperately need to fill quickly.
And Rice may not be the only star and key figure leaving the club, with the likes of Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, Tomas Soucek, Angelo Ogbonna and Vladimir Coufal all facing uncertain futures and set to follow Craig Dawson out the exit door.
Those are hugely important names which means this summer is going to be a crucial and decisive one for the Hammers board. How they make the best use of the huge figures they’re going to accumulate come the end of the season will prove decisive in how the club looks for next season.