Sky Sports’ Paul Merson has issued a stark warning to West Ham over the situation of star midfielder Declan Rice by stating that the Hammers will have to pay up to £40million for a replacement if he leaves.
The future of the teenage star, who has been a revelation in the middle of the park this season, has been left up in the air due to his contract status, with his current deal, which does have a one-year extension, set to expire in the summer.
With reports circulating about contract talks and the like, Merson has insisted the Irons need to sort the situation out or risk losing him – which would then be a costly error to fix.
He told Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (22/12, 13:57): “It sounds like they’re taking liberties on his heartstrings. They need to be careful and they need to sort this player out.
“He’s 19, 50 games already, there aren’t many kids who have played that. They’ve found his position, I thought he was a bit short of pace to play at centre half, they’ve put him in front of the back four and he knows what he’s doing.
“He sees danger and he keeps it simple. If they don’t (sort the situation) he’ll get a club and get the money he deserves, he will get that and they need to be careful West Ham because if he goes, they’ve got to bring a player in and pay £30-40million for him.”
Opinion
Is Rice really worth the £40million that Merson is suggesting? Not a chance. Yes, he might be a Premier League regular and yes he does count as a homegrown talent but you would not see any top flight side spending that sort of money on a foreign player at the same age and statistics. He is obviously a very talented youngster with plenty of potential to improve but he is by no means worth the sort of money Merson suggests a replacement would cost. What the pundit is right about is the fact that another club – likely to be one fighting at the top of the table – will be willing to spend the sort of money the youngster is looking for in wages should he fail to come to an agreement with the Irons. It is a precarious situation that the Hammers find themselves in and they will not want to be losing him for relative peanuts any time soon.