Speaking on a recent episode of The Transfer Window podcast, Ian McGarry claimed that West Ham United are looking to offer defensive midfielder, Declan Rice, a new deal, in order to ‘try and keep Chelsea at bay’.
Making his West Ham debut as an 18-year-old back in 2017, Rice has gone on to establish himself a crucial part of the Hammers’ first-team, making 115 appearances for the club, over which he has scored three goals and provided four assists.
In the previous two full seasons, the £49.5 million-rated 21-year-old has highly impressed for his club, starting 72 of West Ham’s 76 Premier League fixtures, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.93 in the 2018/19 season and a match rating of 7.01 in the 2019/20 campaign.
These impressive performances appear to have caught the attention of Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, who was said to be keen on bringing the England international to west London during the summer transfer window.
However, after David Moyes’ side informed Chelsea that Rice would not be leaving, it would seem as if the club are now taking measures to ensure that, should Lampard make another move for the midfielder in January, it is even more difficult to prise the 21-year-old away from east London, as, according to McGarry, the club are planning to offer Rice a new and improved deal.
He said: “West Ham United, who resisted the temptation to sell Declan Rice to Chelsea in the summer window – Chelsea and Frank Lampard [are] desperate to have a commanding centre-back, even though they did sign Thiago Silva, [Lampard] still wants to have a younger, very commanding player to organise his defence – have offered Declan Rice and his representatives the chance to come and discuss an upgrade [to] his current deal.
“His current deal actually was extended in December 2018 until 2024, [and] my understanding is that the upgrade itself will not necessarily be an extension of that contract because, obviously, [it] is already long-term – plus I understand there’s a one-year option on both sides to extend to 2025 – what they will do is offer him a pay rise and better terms and bonuses in order to try and keep Chelsea at bay in terms of any move in January.
“I’m not sure it’s necessarily going to work, in terms of Declan Rice’s ambitions, but, given the criticism [West Ham] come under generally [for] their transfer policy, it does seem like a positive move on their part with regards to ensuring that the player is enticed to stay, but I suppose an upgraded contract means they can ask for more money for Rice if Chelsea do come knocking again in January.”
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TIF Thoughts on Ian McGarry’s claims that West Ham are looking to offer Declan Rice a new deal…
From McGarry’s comments, it would appear that the podcaster is of the belief that West Ham’s plan to offer Rice a new deal is indeed a positive move by the club, however, he does suggest that the new and improved contract could be a way of ensuring that Chelsea would have to pay a larger transfer fee in order to sign Rice.
However, either way, this news would indeed appear to be good for fans of the club, as a new deal could potentially put off Chelsea coming back in for the midfielder, or, if Lampard’s side really are desperate to sign Rice, then they will likely have to pay a large fee for the 21-year-old, which, in turn, could then be used by West Ham to invest in a replacement for Rice.