OPINION
For the West Ham United supporters, their number one fear over the past year or so has been star midfielder Declan Rice potentially leaving the club.
Premier League heavyweights Manchester United have lurked as the likeliest candidates to come and poach the England international, but the latest report suggests that that won’t be happening any time soon.
The Daily Express reported on Sunday that the Hammers are set to slap a £100million price tag on the 20-year-old, something which will deter Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from making his planned January move for the Irons starlet.
The Red Devils are said to have made a push for Rice this summer, but West Ham wouldn’t budge. The Old Trafford boss wanted to come back in during the winter transfer window, but United are thought to have been put off by this monumental valuation.
There you have it, then. It’s now safe for the West Ham fans to emerge from behind their sofas. This is a massive boost for their season, seeing as, if this is true, it essentially prevents them from losing one of their best players mid-campaign.
Because Rice is certainly one of the premier Hammers, make no mistake about that. All you have to do is take a look at his statistics for this season to see that.
As per WhoScored.com, Rice has played in every single minute of the campaign. The Englishman is averaging 44.3 passes per game, with a terrific pass success rate of 89%, while he’s making 4.3 long balls forward an outing.
Defensively, as anticipated, he has been phenomenal. Rice is averaging 3.4 tackles, 2.4 interceptions, 0.7 clearances and 0.4 blocks per game.
To lose someone like that mid-season would be devastating for Manuel Pellegrini’s side. However, it doesn’t seem like that will be the case now, thank goodness.
