Moyes: No contact from Chelsea or Man Utd to sign Rice

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

West Ham manager David Moyes has confirmed that the Premier League side have received no offers from Manchester United or Chelsea for midfielder Declan Rice. 

The Hammers boss was asked by Amazon Prime if the box-to-box talent had been the subject of any offers from other English top-flight clubs. 

And not only did Moyes confirm that there had been no bids for Rice’s signature, but also stated that the London club had no intentions of letting the player leave if any bids were made. 

“They’re not true [rumours of a bid], we’ve had no contact from either of those clubs regarding Declan and we wouldn’t want any anyway,” stated Moyes. 

“He’s doing great for us, he’s a big leader now, he’s taken a lot of the weight off Mark Noble.

“He’s turning out to be a really good player but also a really good boy and good around the club.”

Will Chelsea or Man Utd bid for Rice?

While the rumour mill seems intent on suggesting that a spectacular offer from Chelsea or Man Utd for the England international is imminent, on paper a big-money move for Rice wouldn’t make a huge amount of sense at the moment. 

For example, Frank Lampard may have some grievances over the recent form of his own combative midfielder, N’Golo Kante, but the Chelsea manager need only look within his current squad to find an ample replacement in Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho or even Billy Gilmour. If anything, Chelsea could probably do with selling a few of their box-to-box midfielders. 

Similarly, Man United also look relatively well stocked in the position Rice would be playing in if he made the move north to Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer currently relies on Fred and Scott McTominay as his go-to holding midfielders, but can also call upon Nemanja Matic or Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek in the centre of the park. 

While Rice’s performances for West Ham undoubtedly suggest he could play at a higher level, Chelsea and Man Utd aren’t likely to be the big clubs that will be fighting for his signature this month or in the summer.