Sky Sports pundit: West Ham United have the pull to replace exit-bound Declan Rice
Declan Rice leaving is a foregone conclusion but West Ham have the pull to sign high quality players, according to Jay Bothroyd.
The Hammers captain has been linked to a £100million-plus move to a Premier League giant for the best part of two years, and a summer bidding war appears to be on the cards.
Bothroyd believes the club have accepted their captain will be gone, potentially along with others, and must improve their form in order to take advantage of their status and spending power in order to bring in good replacements.
Speaking to Sky Sports News he said: “I think West Ham have conceded that Declan Rice is going to go. Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool – he’s a top player. In his position, one of the best in the world, but I think West Ham still have that pull of players. They can sign good players, they’ve always signed good players.
“Now, I think they really need to look at it and move up the table because in the summer, I think Declan Rice will be gone, so they need to be in a position where they can spend money, replace the players that might leave. But the most important thing right now is to start playing better and scoring goals more often.”
Changeover
The record-breaking deal to sign Lucas Paqueta this summer proves Bothroyd right on ability to sign good players, even if the track record over the last decade is far from a parade of hits.
David Moyes continues to talk tough on a Rice move but after the start to the season the club has had that is surely more about protecting his transfer value than actually keeping hold of him.
It was a similar story a year ago and the manager was successful in largely heading off transfer speculation once summer came around, but after the 23-year-old’s comments in Qatar it feels like a different situation this time around.
The key question now is whether Moyes will be around long enough to see Rice leave, since the draw at Leeds on Wednesday (4 January) was the first time he has avoided defeat in the Premier League since October.
There are significant questions hanging over the West Ham boss as to whether he is capable of returning the side anywhere near the level he managed in the previous two seasons, or whether he is the right man to be entrusted to get the best out of signings.
Paqueta was the headliner from a record spend in the summer window and yet the club have gone backwards, so if a king’s ransom is secured for Rice the board may feel like they would be better off using it to providing replacements for someone else.