Champions League clubs interested in West Ham’s Rice

Declan Rice has had a superb season for West Ham United and it’s no surprise that it has seen interest in him grow.

It is no secret that Frank Lampard’s Chelsea is a keen admirer of the young midfielder. It has even been reported that they have made numerous offers for West Ham’s Declan Rice. Some of the proposals have included deals that involve swapping some of their own players for him.

The most widely linked players to being involved in the swap deals are Ross Barkley, Michy Batshuayi, Tiémoué Bakayoko and Fikayo Tomori, although the latter would only be on loan for one season. It would seem that these type of deals won’t get the Blues very far and that West Ham will only wonder a straight cash deal.

But Chelsea is not the only club that will are interested in the ‘Basmati Busquets‘. Manchester United have been reportedly interested in signing Rice as they look to try and become the giants of English football that they once were.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær could be in the market for a new midfielder to replace their again Nemanja Matic and inconsistent Fred and Scott McTominay. Rice would be able to take the starting spot over those three and improve the United midfield.

Rice would allow Paul Pogba much more freedom to get forward and support Bruno Fernandes and the rest of the attack. There has also been a bit of added kindling to the fire is the fact that Rice has linked a post on Instagram suggesting United will have a “big transfer window“.

Although there is still a long way to go until Rice is seen in the jersey of another Premier League club, even if they have the pull of Champions League football. Especially after West Ham secured their Premier League status.

A report in the Times has implied that Chelsea has already spent highly and can’t afford Rice’s full price this summer. Whereas, Manchester United are more focused on trying to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund to add to their already impressive frontline.

Manager David Moyes had his own say on Rice and his future at the club.

"“Declan is under contract.“He goes on holidays now as far as I know. Hopefully, he is selected for England.“He will be back in pre-season with us in three weeks. That’s as much as I can tell you.“Rightly so Declan should have attention because he’s such a good player.“But he’s not going anywhere unless you get one of those steel vans that have the cash in it. You better bring one of them!”"

Moyes is planning to build the squad around the 21-year-old, after his incredibly impressive season. Rice played every minute of the season and has earned his place in the England side with his great performances.

West Ham is in a strong negotiating position Rice’s contract runs until 2024. Furthermore, at the moment no club seems keen on paying the full amount wanted by the Hammers. Especially as Moyes has implied how much money would be needed “a steel van that has cash in it”.