Sources: Declan Rice expected to leave West Ham after multiple offers submitted
West Ham expect to lose Declan Rice to a Champions League giant next year regardless of how their season pans out, sources have told Football Insider.
The Irons star man, 23, is on the wish list of multiple elite clubs as he looks to further enhance his reputation with England at the World Cup.
Liverpool, Man United and Chelsea are among the Premier League teams keeping close tabs on Rice, who has rejected multiple offers to extend his West Ham contract.
They include a £200,000-a-week deal that would have made the midfielder the best-paid player in the club’s history.
Rice’s current deal with the Irons runs until the summer of 2024 and the club have the option of another 12 months.
But the next two windows – in 2023 – offer West Ham the last realistic chance of securing a mammoth fee for their prize asset.
They expect him to go next summer, when he will have just a year left on his deal.
West Ham wanted £100million for the England star in the summer of 2021 and then David Moyes insisted at his media conference in April that the price tag had rocketed and “£150m just now would be minimum”.
That was enough to temporarily put off the Premier League elite from making a move.
But his price tag will fall as Rice’s contract runs down and the player will be in an even stronger negotiating position.
One intriguing area for interested clubs over the coming weeks will be how Rice copes with the type of scrutiny and huge-game pressure he does not get at West Ham, who do not compete in the Champions League or challenge for trophies.
The Chelsea academy product is an integral player for club and country, and his midfield partnership with Jude Bellingham will be key to the progress of Gareth Southgate’s team.
Rice has taken his game to a new level at West Ham over the last year, not only protecting his side’s defence but also driving his team forward from the centre of the pitch.
In other news, ‘huge’ West Ham claim after BBC’s David Moyes update.