West Ham United: Wolves captain Ruben Neves emerges as half-price alternative as Arsenal and Chelsea race for Declan Rice
Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves has emerged as a cheaper alternative to West Ham star Declan Rice in this summer’s transfer market, according to Ben Jacobs.
Arsenal and Chelsea are reportedly “pushing” for the Irons captain this summer with the club “resigned” to losing him, but the Portuguese skipper Molineux is in a very similar situation and could be available for half the price.
Jacobs expects both players to move in the summer as their respective clubs look to take advantage of one of the final opportunities to bring in a strong fee, and that the 26-year-old could ultimately draw some attention away from Rice.
The CBS journalist wrote for Fabrizio Romano’s Caught Offside Substack on Tuesday (21 March): “A bit like West Ham with Declan Rice, Wolves are pretty resigned to losing Neves. They know, with his contract expiring in 2024, selling at the end of the season is the only way to command a healthy fee.”
He went on: “A lot of attention will be on Rice, with Arsenal and Chelsea pushing, but Neves will be highly-sought after as well and is available cheaper than the West Ham talisman (perhaps even around half his price).
“That’s the silver-lining for Wolves. They may lose the Portuguese midfielder but be able to drive up the price a little due to a high volume of suitors.
“Let’s not forget last summer Neves was being valued at over £75m. His price has dropped due to the contract winding down, but Wolves would still ideally want closer to £50m than £40m.”
Unhelpful
Since it is not only interest from other clubs that is pushing Rice towards a West Ham exit it is not particularly useful for there to be a cut-price substitute option on the market at the exact same time.
They are clearly not the same player but there are similarities and they do fill the same position, and with both having extensive Premier League experience the Wolves man could be seen as a viable alternative to the Hammers star.
West Ham’s primary consideration at this point, since this season’s miserable nature has probably shown Rice that the Champions League is a long way off in claret and blue, is getting maximum value out of his sale.
The fact that the two London rivals are after him is a positive in that regard, even if it isn’t enticing for Irons supporters to imagine the England star playing for either of them, as is the interest from Manchester City.
A bidding war that clears £100million and breaks Enzo Fernandez’s British-record move would be the preferred outcome at the London Stadium.
So if Neves is sitting there available for less than half that it could knock one of those clubs out of the running for Rice if the auction gets too high.
Since West Ham are going to need a replacement it would negate that issue if they went out and tried to sign Neves themselves, although that might reduce City’s interest as a swap deal involving Kalvin Phillips has already been mooted.