West Ham United demand for Declan Rice shakes the market as transfer news emerges
TalkSPORT has reported that Brighton want Chelsea to pay as much for Moises Caicedo as West Ham are demanding for their star midfielder, Declan Rice.
The report (16 June) states that the Seagulls believe that Caicedo is on the same level as Rice and therefore should be sold for the same price amid interest from the West London club in their 21-year-old midfielder.
Rice is reportedly valued at over £100million by West Ham with Arsenal currently attempting to secure the services of the Hammers’ captain.
As reported by talkSPORT (15 June) the Gunners have seen their first bid of £80million and £10million in add-ons turned down. Chelsea may now be keeping a close eye on negotiations for Rice as it could potentially affect the pursuit of their own midfield target.
Rice setting the standard
Rice is of course a fantastic player and one of the league’s best midfielders, and David Sullivan demanding over £100million for his star player should come as no surprise. He is still just 24 years old, recently captained the club to their first major trophy in over four decades and has years of Premier League and international experience already under his belt.
The nature of his importance to West Ham and his role as captain will also mean the club will look to charge a premium, however, if Rice is £100million, it isn’t unfair for Brighton to expect a similar fee for Caicedo.
The 21-year-old is three years younger than Rice and has performed just as well, if not better, in the Premier League this season as he helped Brighton to finish in Europe for the first time in the club’s history. As well as this, he just signed a new deal in January and has no release clause in his contract.
It seems as if the Rice transfer saga may have a lot of knock-on effects during this window as the Premier League midfielder merry-go-round looks set to begin.