Declan Rice has impressed immensely in the heart of a West Ham United midfield that has significantly over-achieved in the Premier League this season. The England international has established himself as one of the strongest defensive midfielders in the country, with the Hammers battling for a European place, and that inevitably brings with it attention from a number of suitors.
David Moyes said: “For me, I have watched the prices of some players who have gone to clubs recently and they could not lace Declan Rice’s boots,” West Ham manager David Moyes said on March 7. I don’t agree with the owners that Declan Rice is a £100m footballer… Far, far more than £100m. I look at the players who have joined some clubs from overseas and come in and had nowhere near the impact that Declan Rice would have. Also he is English, [we have] just had Brexit, so I wouldn’t agree with the owners if Declan Rice was only £100m. No, I wouldn’t. Do we need the Champions League to keep Declan? No, because Declan is under contract first and foremost, so he can’t go anywhere no matter what and I keep saying and I hope people know that when I say something I mean it. We’ve not had an offer for Declan Rice and I hope we don’t get one. I certainly wouldn’t put a price on him. The owners think he’s worth £100 million – well, I completely disagree with that. You can decide which figure you want to put on it but I wouldn’t be sanctioning anything like that, that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to keeping Declan, I look forward to keeping all the boys and building a young team. If we could finish in Europe, in some sort of European position, I think it would be progress. And that would be progress for Declan Rice as well because he’s been at West Ham they’ve been bobbing around the bottom, so this is new for Declan as well. Declan seems very settled and in fact he is captaining West Ham, plays for England and I want to keep Declan thinking that his ambitions can be achieved here at West Ham and I will have to keep pushing that and keep pushing that with the owners as well. I think Declan will always be here as long as he thinks I’m going to try and get him good players and players he thinks will help the team get better. If we could finish near the top it will make us much more attractive to players and clubs in the future, and we want to keep a hold of our good players as well, we want them to think this is the right place to be. I can tell, looking at him, [that] Declan is pushing me to improve the team. I’m looking at him and saying; ‘You’re an England international, possibly a future England captain, and you want me to get you good players. Good players you can play with and who want to get better. So every day I look at him I think: ‘My goodness, he’s making me find better players, in turn, to make West Ham better.’ And I think Declan will always be here as long as he thinks I’m going to try and get him good players and players he thinks will help the team get better.”
