Trevor Sinclair accepts Declan Rice has ‘every right’ to leave West Ham
London’s Player of the Year Declan Rice is within his rights to want to leave West Ham after their failure in the transfer window, says Trevor Sinclair.
The Hammers midfielder received the accolade at the London Football Awards last night, with manager David Moyes named Best Manager, but is thought to want to move on after the club failed to strengthen the squad in January.
Speaking on talkSPORT this morning (Friday 4 March, 09.40am) ex-Iron Sinclair said: “When you look at ambition, and you’ve got London’s best player, London’s Player of the Year, Declan Rice.
“If you’ve got a player like that and the club’s not matching his ambition surely he’s got every right to [leave].
“He’s been given captaincy, he’s 22-23 years old, he’s playing in the England team, he’s valued, he’s loved by the fans.
“So he’ll appreciate everything, and the platform, and the opportunity that West Ham United have given him, so it won’t be an easy decision”.
Make or break
The turmoil at Chelsea with Roman Abramovich may have taken out what was thought to be the 23-year-old’s preferred destination, but the Hammers aren’t out of the woods.
Rice will be well aware of the situations of Harry Kane and Jack Grealish from his international duty alongside the pair.
The former Aston Villa captain has already made a big-money move to a trophy favourite in Manchester City, but his influence has dipped noticeably.
England skipper Kane wanted to follow him last season as he is currently in line to end up as the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer but has so far gone empty handed throughout his career.
Players of that level are always likely to want to experience tangible success elsewhere unless they have a life-long affinity with the club, so the draw will be strong for the current star of east London.
Both sides of Manchester are believed to be chasing him even if the European champions may no longer be.
One player does not make or break the club’s future however, and there is no reason he cannot be replaced.
But the hierarchy at the club has to prove that it is capable of wielding big money in the market, which they did not do in January, or this side will have a ceiling they cannot break through.
In other West Ham news, there was good news and bad news for the Irons at Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match press conference.
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