Is it time for West Ham United to cash in on their star midfielder?

West Ham United’s bid to keep Declan Rice in East London with the Hammers has taken another hit after the player rejected a third contract renewal with the club; a summer move appears more and more likely to occur following news of the third refusal.

It is almost as clear as the seawater in Porthcurno, England, Declan Rice sees his future away from the London Stadium after he rejected his club’s third offer. The Hammers captain has been the subject of a transfer for consecutive windows and came close to an exit last summer.

However, a rumored deal to his club of choice, Chelsea, never materialized because David Moyes and the club’s board stood firm on their no-sale stance and their asking price, which kept potential suitors away until a later window.

That window could nonetheless come as soon as this summer. Teams playing around the Hammers and abroad and who playing for bigger honors have been monitoring his situation.

Despite the Englishman’s determination not to stay put in East London, he is fully focused on the job at hand. Moyes’ charges this campaign sees West Ham in a Europa League Semi-Final, being the only Premier League side left in the competition still.

"Excl: Declan Rice has turned down third contract offer at West Ham. There’s still no agreement – Rice has always been committed, but he’s now open to a move this summer.West Ham insist he’s untouchable as David Moyes said – but Declan Rice won’t sign a new deal. (Via: @FabrizioRomano)"

That is the one objective to overcome while the other is staying in the fight for Champions League football — with them having an outside chance of still getting the spot over contenders, Tottenham (4th place), Arsenal (5th place), and Manchester United (6th place) — all of whom are ahead of the Hammers.

Rice has been a key figure for them during this amazing run. Rated as one of the best midfielders in his age group and his position, he will not come cheap, hence the huge asking price of £150million.

Declan Rice’s new deal with West Ham

For these reasons, the London club have offered him a massive salary increase, a salary adjustment that would see him become the club’s highest-paid player in the history of the club. Their proposal is said to be £200k per week.

"Declan Rice has turned down a third offer of a new contract from West Ham and is open to a summer transfer. The terms would have made him the best-paid player in the club’s history at about £200,000 a week.A number of clubs including Manchester United are interested in Rice but West Ham’s manager, David Moyes, said this month that “£150 million just now would be the minimum, but he is not for sale. What I do know is that it means there are only certain clubs that could even consider it.”It is understood that West Ham will reject any offers for Rice this summer, even if he does not renew. However there is a feeling that he will be allowed the following summer if a suitable bid is made. (Via: theguardian.com)"

Chelsea and both Manchester clubs are the rumored interested parties but some factors influence their Declan Rice decision, a decision that could see them all respectively pull out of a potential purchase and search elsewhere.

Chelsea are still up for sale and needs to find new owners before transfers in and out of Stamford Bridge become clearer. Manchester United will be and have been turned off by the huge £150m evaluation but still have dubbed him as a priority target this summer.

Manchester City have another priority to sort out and that’s signing Erling Erling Haaland. This saga might boil down to Rice handing in a transfer request and forcing his way out of the London Stadium if they continue to deny him a way out.