Once Declan Rice leaves West Ham for Arsenal or whichever club meets the Hammers valuation of the player, it could have a knock-on effect for Leeds United.
At this point, Rice appears to be going nowhere. Although the expectation is that he will, eventually, sign for the Gunners, the east Londoners are certainly not going to allow him to go on the cheap, having turned down Arsenal’s second bid of £90m on Tuesday – a club record for the north London outfit.
BREAKING: Arsenal's second bid for Declan Rice, worth up to £90m, has been rejected by West Ham. ?? pic.twitter.com/i1iW3AAJNc
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 20, 2023
Clearly, it would be remiss of David Sullivan and the West Ham board if they weren’t sizing up potential opportunities in the event that Rice does depart.
To that end, Tobi Altschäffl, a senior reporter with BILD, has tweeted that the Hammers are interested in Leeds’ Robin Koch as a potential replacement, once the move for the England international is confirmed.
Neben Eintracht Frankfurt ist West Ham in das Rennen um Robin Koch eingestiegen. Bei West Ham wird er als Sechser und möglicher Rice-Nachfolger diskutiert. Die Tendenz von Koch geht aber eher Richtung Bundesliga.
— Tobi Altschäffl (@altobelli13) June 17, 2023
With no goals and no assists in his 39 games for the Elland Road outfit last season, per WhoScored, one has to question why David Moyes might feel that Koch is the man to slot into the Hammers midfield.
If there’s one thing that has marked out Rice during his time at the London Stadium, it’s his ability to get forward and affect play at both ends of the pitch, rather than just as a protector for the back four.
With Koch potentially preferring a move to the Bundesliga in any event, Moyes will most likely have to look elsewhere for his replacement.
How is a centre back possibly a replacement for a CDM!? This article makes no sense whatsoever!!
Silly Season!
Would have to improve somewhat
Moyes master stroke ,, Idiot
Crap article click bait. Idiots
Another Moyes Koch up .