West Ham’s current contract saga could badly impact the Academy

Regardless of what’s true or isn’t with the Declan Rice contract saga, West Ham’s Academy of Football could take a huge hit based on this all goes down.

Sadly, West Ham United is not one to steer away from a sad or frustrating saga. Although it may not hold the same weight, contract and transfer dialogue with formers Hammers (I.E., Diangana, and Ngakia) still sting in many ways. The current hoopla surrounding Declan Rice and whether or not he will get a new contract to his liking only adds gasoline to that fire.

Based on a claim from the always reputable ExWHUEmployee, Declan turned down a few contract offers in the past few months, but not recently. The recent stirrup has come due to journalists and pundits alike blowing up the internet with this news. Regardless of what is true or isn’t, this cannot sit well with the young and up incoming stars in the Academy.

We preach on the importance of the Academy a lot here at The Green Street Hammers, and this story is no different. Even though it’s not mentioned, you can almost guarantee that every Hammers Academy star looks up to Declan and tries to mimic what he is doing.

West Ham’s current contract saga could badly impact the Academy

David Moyes and Co have been doing a lot recently to boaster the Academy of Football as well. Bringing in three new promising forwards and adding contracts of Levi Laing and young Freddie Potts. Right now, it feels like no matter what good comes from the Academy; this will only take away from the shine and excitement of it.

Much like players looking up to Dec, he too had a solid mentor to admire and groom his career off of. Mark Noble was and still is the example of how an Academy player should play their game. Luckily for West Ham, Noble decided to be a one-team player, and that helped groom the next crop of graduates. His career was never riddled with controversy, making growth more seamless.

This isn’t the first time Declan’s name has come up in contract issues. If you have someone that wants to play for the club and the name on the front, not the back; someone who plays the West Ham way, you pay him. Right now, that isn’t the case, and unless something happens soon, and the board gets it together, you can expect this to trickle into how the Academy players prepare their future.