Fabrizio Romano: Declan Rice would be ‘excellent’ Liverpool signing as West Ham United update emerges
Declan Rice would be an “expensive” signing for Liverpool after the West Ham midfielder was linked with a move to Anfield, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Football Insider reported on 8 October that Liverpool have a “strong interest” in the 23-year-old Hammers captain as Jurgen Klopp looks to add to his midfield.
Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham is also wanted by Liverpool and while Guardian journalist Romano suggests the ex-Birmingham ace is a more prominent target at Anfield, he’s not ruling out an Anfield switch for Rice.
“There has been some talk of Liverpool being interested in signing Declan Rice, and one of the subscribers also asked in the comments,” said Romano.
“We always have links for Rice and it’s normal – but West Ham insist they want to keep him. It’s going to be an expensive transfer to sign Rice in 2023, nothing has changed.
“I think he could bring some energy to the Liverpool midfield, so an excellent fit for sure. However, Jude Bellingham will be the priority for many clubs.”
Hands off
It does feel as though Rice could be in the final months of his time at West Ham.
He’ll enter the final year of his contract once this season is over and the fact we spent a lot of money in the summer just gone suggests that those funds will need recouping.
Selling Rice could make up for the losses in one fell swoop.
Rice hasn’t had an amazing season so far if we’re honest.
It’s hard to put a finger on why Rice has struggled to perform this season as there are a number of factors.
Has he been put off by the speculation? Has Tomas Soucek’s poor form affected him? Have the large number of new signings thrown him off? Or is he just down on his luck?
Rice is a generational talent though and we’ll be devastated to lose him.
We’re just realistic enough to know that he won’t be with us forever and that selling him next summer is probably more than likely than us keeping hold of him.