West Ham will not be considering any offers below £150 million for the services of Declan Rice this summer, according to manager David Moyes.
At the age of 23, Rice has established himself as a regular starter for Gareth Southgate’s England and is set to play a key role in Qatar later this year, as they seek to move past the Euro final heartbreak from last year and win their second-ever World Cup. His unquestionable quality at the base of midfield has attracted the attentions of Chelsea and Manchester United in the last couple of transfer windows, and his versatility makes him quite capable of playing as a central defender if told to do so.
His presence at West Ham has been crucial for the rise in their results since Moyes took over, and they are now set to qualify for Europe again. They still might even make it into the Champions League, sitting six points off Arsenal in fourth place, though they don’t seem very likely to overtake the Gunners.
“The first thing to say is that he is not for sale,” Moyes told the press ahead of his team’s clash with Everton at the London Stadium on Sunday.
“But if you are interested, well, it will be north of that, because £100 million was cheap last summer, and £150 million just now would be minimum – but he is not for sale.
“I look at what Tottenham did with Harry Kane, albeit it in a different way. They said, ‘no, there is a price and if someone wants to pay the price, then we’d probably do it. If they don’t then he’s not going anywhere’. That’s it, they have kept him.”
Rice is under contract with the Hammers until the summer of 2024, which certainly puts them in a strong position in terms of any potential negotiations this summer.