Darren Bent has argued that West Ham midfielder Declan Rice is not worth £100 million.
A report from the Express earlier this year claimed that the Hammers had slapped the price tag on the youngster to ward off interest from Manchester United, but Sky Sports pundit Bent has refuted the suggestion.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “Some people have spoken about Declan Rice being worth something crazy like a £100million, which is crazy, ridiculous.
“No way right, there’s no chance, but at the same time, he is a good young player.
“He is learning his trade, it’s not always going to happen for him, but he’s a very, very good young player, so he’s going to need time to develop.”
OPINION
Bent is spot on here. Rice is obviously a good player, and nobody is really disputing that, but to suggest that he is worth £100 million is frankly absurd. With the way that the inflation of the transfer market is going at the moment, it could maybe happen one day, but right now, he is nowhere near that level. At the same time, you can understand why the Irons slapped that price tag on him, because they would be devastated were they to lose him. So far this season he has averaged 2.9 tackles, 2.1 interceptions, and a pass completion rate of 89.6%, as per Whoscored, and in a lot of ways, he is the ideal defensive midfielder. But he still has a lot to learn, and his consistency could do with a little tightening up as well. In short, he is worth a fortune, but if he were to go for anything over £50-60 million at this precise moment in time, the Hammers would have gotten a good deal.
