Rice and Bellingham urged to 'run a mile' from Man Utd move by Carragher

Cameron Smith

21 Apr 2022 15:45 CDT
4 min read

Declan Rice, West Ham 2021/22 — © ProShots

Jamie Carragher has urged England duo Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham to "run a mile" if they are approached by Manchester United this summer.

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Carragher, 44, spent his entire playing career at Man Utd's rivals Liverpool and has seen the tide turn since his time in the Premier League came to an end.

While Man Utd were the dominant force in the division under Sir Alex Ferguson, they haven't been able to achieve close to the same success since his retirement, and Liverpool have climbed back to the top of English football under Jurgen Klopp.

The gap between the two teams can be clearly seen by Liverpool's 9-0 aggregate win over the two games played in the league this season.

With Man Utd struggling under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the beginning of the campaign and Ralf Rangnick following Solskjaer's sacking, they sit in sixth place and risk missing out on Champions League football.

Given the downturn of the Old Trafford club, Carragher believes it would be unwise for two of England's best midfielders to even consider a transfer to the red side of Manchester.

Both Rice and Bellingham have been at the centre of transfer talk over the past year, with their performances catching the eyes of almost every elite European club.

Real Madrid and Liverpool are reportedly keen on Borussia Dortmund's teenage sensation Bellingham, while Chelsea want to be reunited with Rice after letting him leave as a youngster.

The two are, however, also being chased by Man Utd. The Red Devils will have a new man in the Old Trafford dugout next season following the announcement of Erik ten Hag as the club's next head coach, and want to rebuild the team.

Man Utd also have the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Aurelien Tchouameni and Konrad Laimer on their transfer list of midfield targets, but Rice and Bellingham remain two players the club are understood to be interested in.

Rangnick, who will move into a consultancy role at the club from next year onwards, has revealed the extend of the task Ten Hag will be dealt with by admitting: "There will be a rebuild here [at Man Utd]. Six, seven, maybe ten new players will come."

Two of the players on the shortlist are reportedly Rice and Bellignham, who could be in England's starting midfielder for the World Cup later this year.

Rice has taken on the mantle of on-pitch captain at West Ham this season with Mark Noble often on the bench, while Bellingham has risen to prominence in Germany with performances beyond his years and has such been linked with a return to the English game.

What has Carragher said to warn Rice and Bellingham of Man Utd move?

Carragher has drawn on current examples in a bid to dissuade two of England's best talents from joining a club experiencing a tough moment and in need of a transition.

In his column on The Telegraph, Carragher blamed Man Utd's transfer strategy that has seen them spend €800 million since their last trophy in 2017.

The former Liverpool defender wrote: "It is hard to think of any United purchase of the last nine years who has improved since arriving at Old Trafford. Even those who made an encouraging start have gone backwards.

"When Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jadon Sancho joined United, there was a sense the club was going in the right direction with young English talent. Now they look terrified to play at Old Trafford."

All four of the English players mentioned by Carragher have suffered a tough 2021/22 season, with Maguire in particular the subject of plenty of criticism for his performances this year. Sancho was a team-mate of Bellingham's at Dortmund, but has struggled to replicate his Bundesliga form at Man Utd this year and Carragher believes this should play on the minds of the two midfielders.

"If I was Declan Rice or Jude Bellingham observing their England team-mates’ troubles – unless my motivation was a big payday – I would run a mile if United called."