Declan Rice PR battle on the cards at West Ham United to push through £100million-plus exit
A “PR battle” between club, player and fans is likely to erupt at West Ham for a big-money Declan Rice exit to be pushed through, Kenny Cunningham believes.
The long-mooted departure of the club captain and England midfield star is likely to cost £100million or more in the eyes of the former Irish international, and will require a public transfer request from the 24-year-old.
The pundit expects that to be necessary for the club to save face with the supporters who don’t want to see him let go, as a way to show their hand was forced.
Cunningham said on Off The Ball Sports on Wednesday night (1 March): “We’ve seen this 100 times over the years with players, it’s a PR battle with players, owners and supporters, in terms of perceptions.
“Ultimately for the owners to be able to look the fans in the eyes and say, ‘Look, there’s nothing we can do here’, generally it needs the player to come out publicly and say, ‘Look, I’m out of here. You need to let me go, I want to move’.
“As soon as supporters hear that a player doesn’t want to be at their football club they row in behind the owners and say, ‘Okay, suck it up, get him out, and get as much as you can’.”
Realistic
An entire fanbase is not a homogenous unit so there will always be differences of opinion whatever ends up happening this summer with Rice.
Plenty have already seen the writing on the wall and would prefer to just have it over with at a satisfactory price that makes it a hit worth taking.
Due to his connection to the supporters the skipper has stopped short of explicitly stating ‘I want to leave’, but he has essentially done everything but say that.
Multiple times, particularly around spending time in England camps with players who are regularly in the Champions League, he has spoken of his desire to feature in the competition and to challenge for trophies.
That has always left the door ajar for West Ham to aspire to be the club where he can do that, and at times last season it looked a real possibility.
But this season the Champions League is little more than a pipe dream, and after exiting the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Wednesday night (1 March) the only shot at a trophy will be the Europa Conference League.
That would be a suitable parting gift if this side can pull itself together to lift it, but it is unlikely to be enough to satisfy Rice.