Stan Collymore: Manchester United and Chelsea could offer players plus cash to sign Declan Rice this summer from West Ham United
Stan Collymore has suggested that Manchester United and Chelsea could offer players plus cash to West Ham to sign Declan Rice this summer.
The Hammers captain is expected to leave the club this summer with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United interested in his signature, but the £100m asking price proving to be a stumbling block.
However Collymore claimed in his column for Caught Offside (12 May) that both clubs could look to offer players to sweeten the pot and also help clear their own squad, with three players named that could be of particular interest.
“I can definitely see a situation where they offer some money and a player,” he said.
“I think including Scott McTominay in an offer would be quite appealing to West Ham.
“Manchester United’s biggest obstacle will be convincing the player to relocate out of London but if Rice is up for moving further north, I think he could really thrive under Ten Hag.
“When it comes to making a cash-plus player offer, Chelsea could do the same to be fair – we know how many players they’ve got to get rid of this summer.
“I wonder if Todd Boehly will think about including Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku in exchange for Rice.”
Considered
West Ham will be expecting a lot of money in return for Declan Rice this summer, but there is no doubting that’s because they will be planning on spending a big chunk of it on replacing him.
Without needing to replace him in the market because they’re getting someone else in exchange would see a lesser cash amount changing hands, but still enough to help fund the rest of the summer business.
McTominay would certainly not be good enough to replace him on his own and there has been doubt about whether he is good enough for what we want to do at all.
Gallagher would certainly be an interesting option because of his ability to get box-to-box, but without Chelsea having Champions League football it seems highly unlikely that Rice will go there this summer.
Either way for him to leave this summer it will have to be a deal that entirely suits West Ham more than anyone or anything else, so it’s up to the others to find a way to do that.