West Ham United have rubbished reports that Manchester United have approached Declan Rice’s representatives over a move to Old Trafford, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable Hammers news source sited a club source saying: “This one is doing the rounds but we have received no inquiries or bid,” after the Irish Independent reported that Rice’s team are aware of United’s interest as the Red Devils prepare an offer of £50million+ for the 20-year-old.
The source continued to explain how the club would respond to a £50m offer: “We would laugh at the £50million being quoted. Given his age and achievements this season his potential is unlimited and any club would be wasting their time coming in with such a derisory offer.
“And the real truth is we have absolutely no interest in selling Declan and it would need to be an absolutely extraordinary offer for us to think about it. He’s on a six year deal – end of story.”
OPINION
This is pretty much the expected response from West Ham. To be honest, £50million for a youngster as talented as Rice is farcical. It’s going to take a lot more than that to prise the England international out of the Hammers’ clutches as he is a key player. United may well be interested in Rice – why wouldn’t they be – but they’re going to have to pay a lot more money than what’s being bandied about here for them to bring him in. West Ham want to keep Rice, he’s their prized possession, so, as they say, unless a truly absurd sum of money is offered they’re simply not going to consider selling him. That’s all that supporters of a club like the Hammers can ask for really. Rice will probably leave at some point, but as long as the club receive his true value then it’s not the end of the world. Ideally he would remain at the London Stadium for the entirety of his career, but that’s just not realistic. However, it seems that the club are intent to keep him for as long as possible.
