Stan Collymore predicts Declan Rice will regret leaving West Ham United for Arsenal
Stan Collymore has predicted that Declan Rice may end up regretting leaving West Ham for Arsenal and instead urged him to join Manchester United.
The Hammers skipper looks set to join the Gunners this summer in a deal worth around £100m, with Bayern Munich and both Manchester clubs also interested in a move.
But writing in his Caught Offside column (12 June), Collymore suggested that Rice would have a better chance of the trophies he craves at Manchester United and accused him of playing it safe by staying in London.
“He was at Chelsea as a youngster, he’s been at West Ham as a pro and now the common consensus is he’s going to join Arsenal, so you do have to ask the question ‘is he a bit of a homeboy?’” he wrote.
“If he wanted to go out of his comfort zone, I’d say go and test yourself.
“The test of Man United and the pressure that it brings being at one of the biggest clubs in the world, maybe the second biggest after Real Madrid, means that from my perspective I think Rice is playing it a little bit safe and he might regret that three or four years down the line.”
Earned it
Rice has been good enough over the last three seasons that he has earned the right to pick what club he wants to join when he leaves West Ham, because they all want him.
Arsenal weren’t even in the race for Rice a year ago, and the fact they now lead that race tell you about how far they’ve come in the last 12 months.
It seems quite clear that Chelsea were his ideal move but with them out of Europe next season, the transfer just doesn’t make sense for him right now.
His game time at Man City wouldn’t be guaranteed and Manchester United are simply unpredictable right now, while he’d be moving away from London. He makes almost any team in the world better right now, and he knows it.
If he goes to Arsenal their chances of European football and trophies improve dramatically and that is what he is banking on.