Former Premier League striker Dean Windass could see Declan Rice leave West Ham at the end of the season if they don’t get in the top four.
The 22-year-old was linked with a move away from the London Stadium in the summer with the Express reporting that Chelsea were ready to make a bid for him.
Rice was in brilliant form last season, helping West Ham to finish sixth in the Premier League, meaning that they would play European football this campaign and then during the summer for England, he forged a partnership with Kalvin Phillips and helped the Three Lions reach the final of Euro 2020.
Do you think Declan Rice will still be a West ham player at the start of next season?
Yes
No
Windass believes that if West Ham don’t make top four this season, he could see Rice depart, telling This is Futbol: “If West Ham don’t get in the top four this year, and you know top four managers will be monitoring him knowing that who’s the best sitting midfielder player in the country, rightly so at the minute and he breaks things up, he plays the ball simple and he’s scoring goals.”
Rice has started this season in inspired form also, as he got on the scoresheet for the Hammers in their opening two Europa League matches against Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna and was recently praised by his manager David Moyes following their victory over Everton.
“It would be hard to say just how good Declan Rice was today. For me, he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch. He did the dirty bits in the game when he had to do so but had a great air of control on the ball and posie,” Moyes told Sky Sports.