West Ham United boss Manuel Pellegrini has seemingly given Man Utd hope of prising Declan Rice away, although he warns it will certainly cost them.
The 20-year-old has now firmly established himself as a key figure for the Hammers, having already surpassed his appearances tally from last season after featuring in 32 outings so far this year.
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Further, he collected his first caps for England over the international break, and so it would appear as though he has a very bright future ahead of him for club and country.
As noted by The Guardian, Rice has been linked with a switch to Old Trafford already, and Pellegrini has offered a frank opinion on the situation in that he understands the likelihood of an exit for such a talented player, but West Ham will only sell if the deal makes sense for them financially too.
“In that case, as always, it is just a matter of price,” he is quoted as saying in the report.
“There are big teams who decide to pay an important amount of money. Sure, if it is a good deal for the club and the player and improves his career, then we can do it. But I know nothing about that yet.”
In turn, it remains to be seen if Man Utd are able to come up with an offer that can convince West Ham to sell, or perhaps whether or not there is even a genuine interest in the talented youngster this summer to bolster Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad.
The midfield is certainly an area in which he will want to improve by bringing in reinforcements, as with Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera and Fred as his top options currently, that surely isn’t enough to ensure that they can compete on multiple fronts next season.
Rice would certainly add quality and depth to the squad as well as a long-term solution given he still has his entire career ahead of him, but as noted in Pellegrini’s comments above, whether it’s United or another interested party, it’s going to cost them to prise him away from the Hammers.
