Man United may offer Declan Rice captain’s armband after ‘very big’ transfer news – Mills
Man United could lure Declan Rice away from West Ham by promising him the captaincy, according to Danny Mills.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Man City and England defender claimed it would act as a “very big carrot” for Rice as he weighs up his next move.
The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday (22 March) West Ham will demand a £150million fee for the 23-year-old and Man United are leading the race for his signature.
Fabrizio Romano reported the same day Man City are exploring the market for a new defensive midfielder with Fernandinho’s future undecided.
Asked whether that could open the door for them to gazump their city rivals’ potential deal for Rice, Mills told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “He’s going to be very, very expensive.
“Man City have got other players in there, they’ve got Rodri who can do that role.
“To spend £120million, £130million, £140million on him, I’m not convinced that’s necessary. They spent £100million on Jack Grealish and haven’t really needed him so far, to be honest.
“We know Declan’s a Chelsea fan but we don’t know what’s going to happen there but we can assume it’s going to get sorted.
“Man United might even turn around say ‘Here’s the captaincy as well’, that could be a very big carrot for Declan Rice.”
Rice has captained West Ham for the majority of the season with Mark Noble limited just to eight starts across all competitions.
Noble will retire at the end of the season and the England international is perfectly placed to take over as permanent skipper.
In other news, FC Porto are plotting a sensational move to sign a Man United superstar.