It’s going to be a big summer for West Ham United and Chelsea one way or another, with the Hammers captain, Declan Rice, likely to be on the move, and his club prepared to accept a lower transfer fee if the overall deal includes another player.
Rice has certainly been the most loyal of servants to the east London outfit and if, as expected, he should depart the London Stadium in the summer in order to be able to play Champions League football, he’s unlikely to have a shortage of takers.
What he offers is leadership, authority, calmness and the genuine ability to be able to support both his defence and attack.
It’s no wonder that West Ham are therefore looking at potentially bringing in over £100m should Rice move on.
According to Sky Sports, the club will accept an offer of £120m from a Champions League club, or £100m if the deal includes another player.
Football.london suggest that, with Chelsea looking to offload a number of players this summer they could potentially offer either Conor Gallagher or Ruben Loftus-Cheek in exchange.
The former shares many of the same characteristics that Rice has and may be a better fit stylistically than Loftus-Cheek.
With a decent transfer kitty to boot, there’s every chance that the east Londoners could afford both players should they so desire.
Squad depth will surely be the aim for David Moyes, or another manager if the Scot is relieved of his duties, and at least £100m will certainly allow the Hammers to be able to achieve just that.