West Ham midfielder Declan Rice will earn £30,000-a-week after signing a long-term deal at the London Stadium, according to The Sun.
The newspaper report that the club have finally caved in to Rice’s wage demands after previously being willing to offer him just £15,000-a-week in basic wages.
The Sun claim that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola had begun to show serious interest in the 19-year-old, who was earning an academy wage of £3,000-a-week on his previous deal.
OPINION
It will come as a huge relief to West Ham fans that the club have finally decided to reward Rice with an appropriate deal. Obviously £30,000-a-week is still a ridiculous amount of money for anyone, but within the inflated world of Premier League football, Rice is a player worth even more than that. The 19-year-old is well aware of that fact, and had previously rejected the club’s offers of a deal including huge financial incentives. It was thought however that the midfielder was still keen on remaining with the club having been at West Ham since the age of 14, and those suspicions have now been proven to be true. There will be a collective sigh of relief around east London after Friday’s announcement, with the prolonged talks between player and club becoming a cause for concern over the past few months. The prospect of losing such a talent to a rival was a hard one to take for anyone involved with West Ham, and that has now been taken off the table for the foreseeable future.