West Ham United: Sky Sports journalist shares fresh Declan Rice update as Liverpool news surface
West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice is still being discussed internally as a summer target for Liverpool after they pulled out of a move for Jude Bellingham, according to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg.
According to several reports on Tuesday [11 April], the Reds have pulled out of a move for the Borussia Dortmund star as the size of any potential £130m deal compared to the changes needed at Liverpool means they do not consider it a viable option.
Liverpool have been linked with Rice in the not so distant past, with Sky Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claiming on 23 March that Arsenal and the Merseyside giants are the most likely destinations for the England international.
And Plettenberg took to his personal Twitter account on Wednesday morning [12 April] to reveal that Rice along with Moises Caicedo, Nicolo Barella and Ryan Gravenberch are being discussed at Anfield as alternatives to Bellingham this summer.
He tweeted: “News Liverpool FC: Still on the shortlist and being discussed with Klopp confirmed: Rice, Caicedo, Barella, Gravenberch and Nunes. Klopp 100 % involved in the decision not to buy Bellingham. Decision was taken with the owners.”
Hotting up
It seems as if the Rice merry-go-round regarding his summer destination is continuing to hot up along with the likes of Bellingham too as two of Europe’s hottest footballing properties are set to move on to bigger and better things in the near future.
Considering the stark rebuild needed at Anfield this summer, it’s perfectly understandable that Klopp and his team could turn his attentions to Rice and other candidates as £130m for one player just simply won’t make sense when they potentially need two or three additions in their midfield.
And the West Ham United captain certainly fits the bill given his tremendous profile, versatility and Premier League-level qualities already.
The East Londoners are certainly resigned to losing Rice this summer, and will pretty much prefer he moves to Anfield rather than their capital neighbours Arsenal or Chelsea.
Though the Irons certainly have no say in his potential destination, they do have a huge say as to how much any interested party will pay for Rice’s services and it is crucially vital that West Ham United try and recoup as much as they can fund their own major rebuild this summer.