Sky Sports’ Stephen Warnock is unsure what the future holds for West Ham’s Declan Rice.
West Ham have been enjoying a magical season reaching the semi-final of the Europa League, only for an Aaron Cresswell red card to put the tie away from them and fall at one of the final hurdles, but after a commanding win on the weekend, they look set to clinch some form of European spot.
Should Rice stay at West Ham?
Yes!
No!
However, had the Hammers managed to win the Europa League that would have got them a spot in next season’ Champions League and could have potentially convinced star midfielder Rice to commit his future longer-term to the club following clubs such as Manchester United and City tipped to move for him this summer.
However, Champions League qualification may not matter if what Stephen Warnock is saying is true:
“You don’t know what Ten Hag is going to be like and the influence he’s going to have and Man United have got to ship a load of players out in order to get him in as well.
So it’s like, where else, does he go abroad? I don’t see anyone else in the Premier League needing him, I don’t see Manchester City needing him, I don’t see Liverpool needing him and then you look at other teams and think I don’t think he has many options.”
TIF Thoughts on Rice…
We believe that there will be than inevitable interest in Declan Rice this summer, regardless of who is in charge where as he is arguably one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. He’s leading the way in this current West Ham team when it comes to tackles won, interceptions, touches, carries and yards racked up when progressing the ball forward, so it’s obvious that he’s stood out once again this campaign.
Rice still has a contract to run at West Ham until the summer of 2024 with the Hammers also holding an option to extend it a further year so there really is no pressure on them to cash in on their star midfielder and instead should be looking to build around him and achieve some success either domestically or in Europe.
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