Rory Jennings shares self-confessed ‘ridiculous’ West Ham United transfer view amid multi-million news
Amid news that West Ham captain Declan Rice to Arsenal is edging closer, podcast host Rory Jennings has told talkSPORT the £100million fee seems “a bargain“.
With Arsenal reportedly closing in on Rice’s signature, as reported by the Guardian on 12 June, the football world has been reacting to the massive transfer news.
It is a deal which could seriously propel Arsenal toward title contention and although the fee is a large sum of money, which would break the Gunners’ transfer record, Jennings has described it as a “bargain.”
“This sounds ridiculous & saying this doesn’t even feel right – but Declan Rice for approximately £100m feels like a bargain,” Jennings told talkSPORT on 13 June.
Co-host Ade Oladipo quickly refuted Jennings’ claims, “How much did Rodri cost, how much did you lot (Chelsea) pay for Kante.” Jennings stood by his claims, however, stating that the Kante signing “was a different time.”
Bargain the wrong word
Describing any player who costs a club £100million as a bargain seems far-fetched, however, while bargain isn’t necessarily the correct term, the deal will still likely be good value for money.
With some of the fees that get thrown around for footballers in the modern game, £100million for Rice seems about right considering his importance to West Ham and the quality of the player Arsenal would be getting at still just 24 years of age.
While there are certainly transfers which are bigger bargains than Rice, the signing is still a massive one for Arsenal and it is hard to not see the midfielder succeeding at the North London club.
Jennings has notoriously come out with some outrageous claims in the past, once suggesting that Erling Haaland would struggle in the Premier League, however, he is along the right track with this one, the wording is just off.
Rice is certainly value for money but by no means is £100million ever a “bargain.”