West Ham slap £100m price tag on Declan Rice
West Ham have put a massive £100million price tag on Declan Rice’s head as Chelsea’s proposed move for him grinds to a halt, according to The Athletic.
They claim that while the 22-year-old “hasn’t given up hope” of a move to Stamford Bridge, “sources have told The Athletic” that the Hammers are demanding £100million for Rice. The report then goes on to state that Chelsea “have not even attempted to initiate discussions” with the Hammers.
They then claim that the Blues will probably look elsewhere in the biggest indicator yet that Rice will not be leaving the London Stadium this summer.
Absolutely huge news for the Hammers!
Rice rejected a contract at the start of this month, and his long-term future with West Ham looked uncertain, to say the least [the Guardian].
However, less than a month later and the club are set to offer him a new deal, and Chelsea haven’t even opened discussions to take Rice from the Hammers [the Sun].
Even if they get that far, they would be paying one of the world’s highest transfer fees to sign a player who still has three years left on his contract.
The report does mention that Tammy Abraham could be used to bring the price down, but if the Irons could do a deal to get Abraham separately and keep Rice, that would be fantastic.
Of course, we will have to see if Chelsea return later in the window, but as its stands, the defensive midfielder, who has been described as “outstanding” by Gareth Southgate, will be staying at West Ham, unless they receive £100million, which would be an incredible amount of money [West Ham’s official site].
In other West Ham news, one English player is keen on a move to the London Stadium ASAP.
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