West Ham United have accepted that Declan Rice will leave the club this summer.
That’s according to a recent report from the Daily Mail, who claim the Hammers’ captain is wanted by four Premier League clubs with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal currently leading the charge.
Having agreed to remain with the Hammers for another season to help the side cope with Mark Noble’s retirement last year, Rice, 24, is now expected to leave the London Stadium in search of bigger and better things.
Publicly valued at an eye-watering £100m by the Londoners, Rice will not come cheap, but that hasn’t stopped a host of top Premier League clubs wanting to sign him.
Even though the Gunners are believed to have prioritised the England international, these latest reports claim Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United are also in the mix to sign him.
Liverpool’s need for at least one new high-profile midfielder is well known but with the Reds recently withdrawing their interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham due to the Englishman’s sky-high valuation (The Times), it remains to be seen whether or not the Merseyside club can muster the funds required to lure Rice from the country’s capital.
As for Chelsea and Manchester United, both clubs have other priorities to address this summer. The Blues desperately need to trim their bursting squad with Erik Ten Hag’s need for a new striker top of his ‘to-do list’.
So, when it comes to the possibility of signing Rice, the Gunners will probably feel like they won’t have a better chance than they do this summer.
Since being promoted to the Hammers’ first team in 2017, Rice, who has already represented England on 41 occasions, has scored 14 goals and provided 13 assists in 239 appearances in all competitions.