OPINION
The future of Declan Rice is likely to be one of the first things on the mind of every single West Ham fan, with the club doing little to ease their worries of late.
Little has been said in recent weeks about a new contract for the 19-year-old midfielder, who was said to have rejected the club’s latest offer in mid-November.
A report on Wednesday has now provided the latest update on the situation, and goes someway to explaining the recent lull in reports surrounding Rice’s future.
According to the Evening Standard, West Ham have now shelved contract talks with Rice until the end of the season after the player and his representatives turned down their offer of £15,000-a-week rising to a potential £40,000-a-week with bonuses.
To be fair to the club this is exactly what they said they would do if Rice turned down that offer, but few really expected them to actually follow through.
While the Hammers may believe they are in a strong position, with Rice’s contract running until 2020 and the club having an option to extend that, this stance does open them up to the possibility of unsettling Rice.
Essentially what they are doing now is forcing Rice to complete the rest of the season on his current meagre wage of £3,000-a-week, with the 19-year-old therefore missing out on a large chunk of potential earnings.
Anyone in their right mind can see that Rice is worth far more to the Hammers than their final offer of £15,000-a-week, with other Premier League sides probably willing to offer the youngster more than £50,000-a-week to sign on.
Obviously Rice has no choice but to remain at the club until the summer on that wage, but in doing so he may become unhappy with the way the club have treated him.
The club may then come back to renegotiate in the summer and find Rice wanting to leave, in a situation which would devastate everyone involved at the London Stadium.
Quite frankly the Irons are playing with fire, and they need to be careful that their actions do not cause serious harm down the road in the form of an exit for Rice.
