Former West Ham left-back Paul Konchesky believes it was massive for his old club to keep Declan Rice this summer, though it is only a matter of time before Chelsea or another big club come back in for him.
The ex-Hammer is a big fan of Rice and thinks the exciting young England international is likely to cost at least £60million whenever he does move on – an amount his club might find hard to turn down, but that others might well view as a potential bargain.
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Rice looks like he could be a great fit at Chelsea, who were strongly linked with him for much of the summer, including by Angelo Mangiante of Sky in the tweet below…
Konchesky, who spent two seasons at West Ham and scored for them in the 2006 FA Cup final, says it was massive for the club to keep Rice, but warned that another good season surely means he’ll be off to a big side in the near future.
“I think it’s a massive plus that they kept Declan, it’s like a new signing,” Konchesky told CaughtOffside.
“But I think the club know if they or Declan go on to having a good season, then maybe it’s only a matter of time before someone comes in to make a bid for him. At the minute I think you’d be looking at £60million-plus for him.”
Rice was one of many stand-out performers for David Moyes’ side as they earned an impressive win away to Leicester City last weekend, and Konchesky was also keen to single out Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell for praise.
“I think West Ham were superb all over the pitch and didn’t let Leicester get a chance to get into their rhythm,” the 39-year-old said. “I thought as a team West Ham were really good, but Antonio and Cresswell were, for me, the stand-out performers.”