Stephen Warnock feels Declan Rice has priced himself out of a move away from West Ham United
Sky Sports pundit Stephen Warnock believes Declan Rice has ‘priced himself out of a move’ away from West Ham this summer, because he’s that good now.
The Hammers skipper has been linked with a £100m away from the London Stadium this summer [Telegraph], but the club have stuck a value of £150m on his head to ward off interested parties.
But with the club failing to make the Champions League, there is worry he could look to move on for a top side but Warnock told Sky Sports News that he’s become too good for his own sake and may have priced himself out of a transfer away with limited options.
“Where could he go, realistically?” he said.
“Chelsea was the team that we all thought would be in for him. Now the situation is at Chelsea that we don’t know what the new owners are going to put into the club, do we? There’s talk that they’re going to go in heavily but until we know and we see that first move from them.
“You look at every other club and you think, would he go to Manchester United at the moment? Would that be an option for him? He’d benefit them, but would it benefit him at this moment, because again you don’t know what Ten Hag’s going to be like and you don’t know the influence he’s going to have.
“United need to shift a load of players out in order to probably get him in as well, and it’s like where else? Does he go abroad? I don’t see anyone else in the Premier League needing him. I don’t see Manchester City needing him, I don’t see Liverpool needing him.
“Then you look at the other teams and you think he doesn’t have many options because, he’s almost priced himself out of a move, not the club, because he’s that good. That’s sometimes your biggest problem. You end up becoming that good, you become too expensive for someone else to buy.”
One of our own
Everyone’s loss is West Ham’s gain this summer and Rice is more likely to stay at the club than he is to leave at this point.
He has been a key member of the side that has seen Moyes build a side that was competitive in a major European tournament and challenged for Champions League football up until very recently this season.
Rice is certainly good enough to be playing regularly in Europe’s top competition and would be well deserving of a move this summer, but West Ham are in total control of the situation because he has three years left on his deal.
They shouldn’t look to sell on the cheap just because he deserves it and the player knows that and understands it. He will be allowed to leave, but only on terms that suit the club.
Whether that’s his own fault or not as Warnock thinks is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is that he’s worth every penny of that asking price to the Hammers and shouldn’t leave for less than his worth.
In other West Ham news, Declan Rice facing three game ban after outburst at referee following West Ham United loss v Frankfurt
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