West Ham United should be selfish over player plus cash transfer for Declan Rice

As things stand and as widely expected, Declan Rice will leave West Ham United in the coming weeks.

It will be a huge loss for the club in terms of how the captain represents the Hammers off the pitch, but obviously, it is all about what he brings to the team and the driving force that David Moyes will have to look to replace.

It is more likely that two or three players will need to come in to fill the void left by Rice but that is why West Ham should be selfish over a potential player plus cash deal for the highly-rated England midfielder.

Arsenal are thought to be in the driving seat to secure Rice, with the player seemingly wanting to stay in London but very loud noises are coming from Manchester, on opposite sides of the city.

The Gunners will come back in after they reportedly fell short with their first offer, under £100m, but now Manchester United are seemingly in the fight, after The Telegraph [21 June], reported that they are willing to offer the likes of Harry Maguire or Scott McTominay as a make weight for the Hammers prized asset.

Manchester City are said to be monitoring developments with a bid to follow if certain interests align.

It is clear that West Ham has an asset that the top clubs want and the objective is to maximise the fee.

There is nothing wrong with that, but given that the Hammers’ main man is inevitably needing to be replaced, why not take advantage of a top player from one of those at the table waiting to sign Rice?

Whilst it would be foolish to involve the likes of Maguire in a deal, McTominay would certainly be an interesting prospect, as would a Kalvin Phillips type.

Moyes won’t be able to prize an elite player away from the big guns but there is plenty of talent on the fringes of their squad that could fit in nicely at the London Stadium, in addition to the other money to be banked from this upcoming landmark deal.

In other West Ham news,