West Ham ace Declan Rice is ‘unlikely’ to stay – Glen Johnson
Glen Johnson has admitted it looks ‘unlikely’ Declan Rice will stay at West Ham and has urged Chelsea to make a move for the midfielder.
The BBC pundit has tipped Jorginho as the man who could be replaced by Rice at Stamford Bridge.
Johnson claimed this was a win-win scenario for the Irons with a positive outcome whether he stays or goes.
“If Chelsea don’t sign him, then someone else will,” Johnson told bettingodds.com.
“It’s one of those situations – he’s either going to your rivals or he’s coming to you.
“It looks unlikely that he’ll stay at West Ham, but it’ll work out either way because if he stays then West Ham keep a world-class player, and if he goes, they’ll get a fortune for him.
“He’s a class act, on and off the pitch. He’s still a young guy, still learning his trade, but I think the way he handles himself is not fake, it’s authentic.
“He’s clearly a lovely guy. I think the more characters we have like that knocking around for England, the better.”
When asked who the Hammers star would replace at Stamford Bridge, Johnson replied: “I’d probably say Jorginho.”
I can see the reasoning behind Johnson’s unthoughtful belief that the Hammers would benefit from selling Rice.
In the short term, yes, they will but it is the long term that needs to be on the forefront of David Sullivan’s mind as I expect it will.
The Irons are likely to get a fee within the region of £100-150million for their ace which would be a lovely boost for the club financially and would allow them to crucially reinvest in the summer.
However, Rice is worth his gold in weight which over the course of his career would be much, much greater than any fee a club would be willing to pay for the England international.
The midfielder staying would encourage some of the Hammers current stand out players to remain at the club and open the door for a higher calibre of player to come in in the future.
If he stays, West Ham could build a team around him for years to come and the 23-year-old could play the lead role in taking the club to the next level whilst securing his legend status.
In other Irons news, Rio Ferdinand thinks West Ham could clinch Champions League football.