Gabby Agbonlahor expects Declan Rice to quit West Ham in 2022
Gabby Agbonlahor suggests Declan Rice’s success with England will see him leave West Ham before the start of next season.
The former Aston Villa striker, speaking on talkSPORT [03/09/21] the morning after Rice struck England’s final goal of a 4-0 win over Hungary, believes the 23-year-old may move on to pastures new in 2022.
“I watched Rice and Phillips last night, they were outstanding,” Agbonlahor said.
“But, what was going through my head was, how long can these players stay at their clubs? How long can Leeds keep hold of Kalvin Phillips? How long can West Ham keep hold of Declan Rice?
“They’re all going to be talking while they’re away, ‘oh we’ve got Villarreal, we’ve got PSG’ and you have banter about it, ‘oh who have you got’, ‘oh we’ve got no one’.
“You know what football banter’s like Trevor [Sinclair] and Jamie [O’Hara].
“I just can’t see them staying more than another season at their clubs. I feel like they’re going to want to play at the top. They’re getting it with their countries, they’re going to want to get it with their clubs.”
Likely
There have been numerous concerning reports for West Ham fans to read over the summer.
As ever, there have been persistent transfers links with Rice’s old academy side, Chelsea, as well as Manchester City and Manchester United.
These are pretty much annual links now anyway, so it’s nothing supporters aren’t used to.
But alongside these have been murmurs and claims that the Irons midfielder is unhappy with the club’s valuation of him, widely reported as at least £100m.
The suggestion is that he’s being priced out of a move, but there never appeared any realistic possibility that he would leave the London Stadium this year, particularly with Europa League football on offer.
However, it may be a different story at the end of the season.
In other West Ham news, the Irons made a deadline-day dash to dump this attacking duo.
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