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Declan Rice will ask to leave West Ham United in summer, Chelsea to 'come in big'
Declan Rice will ask to leave West Ham United in the summer with Chelsea expected to “come in big” to get a deal done, according to Simon Phillips.
The West Ham skipper has been linked with an exit away from the London Stadium for several years and during the World Cup break recently admitted that he wants to play Champions League football.
It has been widely expected that the club will be open to offers in the summer as he will have just two years remaining on his contract, but Phillips wrote on his Substack account (21 December) that Rice will go one step further and ask for his transfer.
“Obviously as we have heard numerous times now and from many other sources, Chelsea will target Declan Rice in the summer” he wrote.
“A source expects Chelsea to ‘come in big for Rice’ in the summer. But also, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool have made their interest known to the player and West Ham.
“He’s not signing an extension with West Ham, and this will be the summer that he finally asks to leave. West Ham are ready to take offers.”
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No shock
This news will come as no big surprise to anyone and in fact it would have been more of a shock if Rice didn’t do this an ended up staying in the summer.
We’ve reached a point now where it’s clear that he will only improve and hit his ceiling if he moves to a club playing regularly at a higher level and competing for trophies, which unfortunately is something West Ham just can’t offer him right now.
He has earned his move with his performances on the pitch, hasn’t put a foot wrong since breaking into the side as a youngster and has worked hard despite not getting his move in the last 12 months.
Now the opportunity is right for everyone for that move to happen, so it would be silly for him to not take control of his destiny and tell the club exactly where he stands as he looks to improve and be successful.
West Ham now must set a realistic but fair price to grant him that move and ensure we’re not short-changed in the process, because it will be a huge blow to lose him and a bigger task to replace him no matter how much we sell him for.