West Ham’s valuation of £70m for Declan Rice shows insecurity over transfer situation

David Moyes has set a price tag of £70 million on the back of West Ham and England midfielder Declan Rice amid Chelsea’s interest, claiming he is too important to the club to lose.

The 21-year-old defensive midfielder has fast become a target of precedence for many of the top-six Premier League clubs, especially Chelsea. Afore the Coronavirus strike on the globe, the Blues were rumoured to want more youthful and, athletic players in their ranks.

Rice fits this mould to the T. This has called David Moyes to the mic and speak up about his plans for now and for the future. And by the laws of football, any club who raises the valuation of a wanted man is the first sign they are resigned in losing that player.

The next, they make him captain for a couple of games in a bid to give him a glimpse of his foreseeable future. The last straw, a contract offer totally absurd, meant only for a world-class player and not a potential world-class player gets thrown on the table. Then 97% of the time (a made-up stat) they end up leaving.

"West Ham won’t sell Declan Rice for less than £70m with midfielder key to David Moyes rebuild. David Moyes remains set on overhauling the West Ham squad this summer, but sees Declan Rice as a vital part of his plans going forward. (Via: The Evening Standard)"

Celebrations on pause in East London

Since moving over to the London Stadium the Hammers have shown tremendous ambition with several of their signings made. Beating many of the top clubs to some top players in the game. Even when they acquired the services of EPL winner, Manuel Pellegrini, they displayed they have an objective of getting to the big stage.

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Sadly, that is all in the past now and Pellegrini has already left the Olympic building in the care of David Moyes, who has the gruelling job of having to save West Ham’s season by keeping them up and rebuild… Again. This is where Rice’s loyalty will get tested. He will have to choose between a long-term project that has little to no guarantees of silverware.

Or go play at the top level and try to cement his place in the England squad for years to come. He has the potential to fit any top team. However, it must be added, Moyes has come back with a bit of swag, despite the results saying differently.

The manner in which his East London side takes the pitch and apply themselves for 90 minutes shows vast improvements in the manager and the players. If COVID-19 was nothing but a bad nightmare and we were waking up for Matchday 30 of the Premier League, we would have seen West Ham hit a purple patch, indefinitely.

Hammers hold a strong grip on Rice

It must be emphasised, a spine designed of Issa Diop as the leader at the back. Declan Rice the protector of the back four and dictator of the game. Tomas Soucek as his helper in the middle of the park. Felipe Anderson as the compass and pass master to unless the beast in front. That beast, Sébastien Haller.

Add in a young, top goalkeeper and a prolific goalscorer and we have a winning formal and perhaps one of the best teams outside of the usual top six. The only thing left to ask now is Declan worth £70m, even if there weren’t any problems with transfers due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The strongest card in their deck that helps them maybe strike a deal in the region of £70m is he is contracted till 2024. Four years of leverage in the negotiations of the player. Unavoidably, he will move on. If not now, 2021, 2022.

West Ham has a lot to do to get up to speed of what’s going on around them in the league. He will not stay around and wait. Should be one of the top transfer sagas to follow.