Rice a £100m bargain for Chelsea, City or Man Utd – Moyes
Robin Bairner
- 5 Feb 2022 12:03 GMT
- 3 min read
West Ham manager David Moyes says that Declan Rice’s price tag of £100 million would represent a bargain for Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United.
Rice has long been associated with a move to one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, but West Ham have repeatedly rebuffed their offers.
Indeed, it was even suggested in January that it would take a world-record bid for the Hammers to be parted with the England midfielder.
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Needless to say, this did not happen, but West Ham boss David Moyes has moved once again to illustrate how important he feels Rice is to his team.
“You will need humongous money to get close,” Moyes said. “I said in the summer that I thought Declan Rice was £100m. That was the sales, that was cheap, that was your chance to get Declan Rice cheap. You can make your mind up about what I'm talking about.
He's arguably playing as well as any midfielder in European football
- David Moyes“Is he committed? I feel it. He's under contract and we're really pleased to have him. He's like a special edition, Declan Rice, there's not many like him.
“For me, he's arguably playing as well as any midfielder in European football, and the prices were really expensive in January, weren't they?”
Why West Ham are so bullish over Rice
West Ham are in a strong position when it comes to Rice’s future. The player is locked under contract with the club until 2024 – and the Hammers have an option to add another year to that.
Rice’s price is likely to stay high, therefore, for at least another 18 months before it begins to drop.
Despite West Ham’s lofty valuation of the player, FootballTransfers’ algorithm places his worth at only £41.5m (€49m) – substantially lower than his club’s asking price.
The likes of Man Utd and Chelsea are both in the market for a central midfielder for the summer, so it would appear that they will be under the duress of West Ham with regards what they must pay for him.
