{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Declan Rice could still stay at West Ham United this summer - ExWHUemployee
EXWHUemployee has provided an update on West Ham United captain Declan Rice’s immediate future at the club, clarifying comments he made on 20 November 2022.
Ex responded to a report claiming that the Hammers would listen to offers for Rice this summer, admitting that unfortunately, that would be the case.
Now, Ex has confessed although his comment was correct, he didn’t mean to cause any “hysteria” around linking Rice with a move away from the London Stadium.
“My comment, although correct, wasn’t meant to cause so much hysteria,” stated Ex as quoted by The West Ham Way.
“I basically just repeated what I have been saying for a long time and I felt the situation was pretty obvious.
“It’s well known that an offer has been made to Declan and at this stage, this hasn’t been agreed or signed. So the fact is, he has 2 years left on his current deal come this summer – meaning the club will need to act as his value will deteriorate if the length of contract depletes by say a year or another 18 months.”
Subscribe to Football Insider TV now
“Declan is a world-class player who West Ham value at around £150m. That is a whole year transfer budget. My comment does not mean that West Ham will sell, as Declan could still yet agree to stay. But the reality is he hasn’t yet and as far as I know isn’t close to.”
Inevitable.
Rice leaving the club is pretty inevitable at this point and it’s more than likely the Hammers are preparing for his exit as we speak.
Ex was just simply confirming this pretty obvious scenario, it’s hard to see Rice willingly opting to stay at the Irons when he could go play in the UEFA Champions League.
Hopefully, he can get a nice last hoorah with the club this season, a UEFA Europa Conference League title perhaps? Or maybe some domestic cup silverware.
Whatever the case may be, West Ham United need to avoid losing Rice for a small fee, not that they will, but the club are in a prime position to ask for pretty much anything they want right now.
£100m+ will go a long way in today’s transfer market and the West Ham hierarchy needs to utilise whatever funds they get from a Rice sale to the fullest.