West Ham United: Andy Goldstein blasts back at Tottenham fan live on talkSPORT amid Declan Rice and Arsenal rant
talkSPORT host Andy Goldstein was in little mood to entertain one Tottenham fan’s suggestion that James Maddison represented a better deal than what Arsenal are paying West Ham for Declan Rice.
Spurs completed a £40m deal for Leicester City star Maddison on Wednesday (June 28), while Rice has reportedly been given permission to have a medical at Arsenal (talkSPORT, 28 June) ahead of a whopping £105m transfer.
An exchange live on talkSPORT saw Goldstein come to the defence of the price West Ham were receiving for the highly sought-after England star.
The caller, Darren, said: “James Maddison for £40m over Declan Rice at £105m, even though they’re different positions, that is over the top money for Declan Rice everybody knows that.”
Goldstein quickly chimed in with: “I don’t think so.”
Co-host Darren Bent admitted he thought the price is too high but acknowledged it is the going rate for England internationals.
When he labelled Rice as one of the best holding midfielders in the Premier League, Goldstein asked if that extended to the world, to which Bent said: “World’s a difficult one, I’ve seen Rodri dominate games in Europe.”
Only time will tell
On the one hand, is £105million an extortionate amount to pay for Declan Rice?
Of course the answer is yes.
But on the other more logical and economical hand is it not just simply true that even before PSG grossly inflated transfer fees forever by forking out around £200m to sign Neymar that there was a premium on English clubs buying England internationals?
The answer to that is also yes.
So, really only time will tell us if Arsenal are paying over the odds for Rice. The only thing we really know for sure right now is the Gunners are purchasing a player who is truly a master of his craft and at 24 years old still has plenty of time ahead of him to develop.
Having seen their title charge come unstuck last season, Rice is exactly the profile of player Mikel Arteta wants as he aims to get Arsenal challenging consistently for major honours.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have made a move for Denis Zakaria amid a rival offer in France.