Declan Rice has been the talk of the transfer windows in the last couple of years especially in and around the Premier League. Arsenal and Chelsea and have been long time admirers of the English midfielder whereas Manchester United were also interested in the West Ham United star player before Erik ten Hag’s arrival. However former United defender Gary Neville feels that Rice’s career has stagnated and the youngster should leave the club in search of new challenges.
Latest reports suggest that the Hammers have slapped an asking fee of at least £100 million for Rice who is being monitored by almost all of the top Premier League clubs.
While Neville believes that Rice’s career will get a big boost if he joins a top club and plays in top competitions in Europe. However he does not feel that any club will be ready to match that humongous asking fee for a holding midfielder.
“When I look at the world-class holding midfield players and the players of that type, Declan Rice doesn’t score or assist enough goals. So, you put him into that category of more of a destroyer. You’ve then got to be someone I think is highly competent on the ball in linking play and that knowledge of the subtleties of getting on the ball from the back four. I personally feel, at this moment in time, that Declan does need to go work under a different set-up,” Neville said in an interaction with Sky Sports.
Neville wants rice to move ahead in his career and for that he feels that the young midifelder needs to move away from West Ham United. But he is well aware of the development done by David Moyes and lauds the former Manchester United for his good work at West Ham.
“He needs to sort of drive forward in his career, he needs to go play at a different club. That’s nothing against West Ham or David Moyes, I think he’s done a brilliant job with Declan Rice. Declan Rice has had a great few years,” he added.
Lastly Neville shared how clubs would not like to pay too much for holding midfielder who can be a very vital part of the team but as long as they don’t score or assist often, they won’t be attracting high bids from clubs. Similarly, according to him, clubs will be reluctant to match West Ham’s asking fee.
“I wouldn’t be spending £100-120m on Declan Rice if I was Manchester United this summer. I would spend £50-60m on Declan Rice,” Neville concluded.
With plenty of clubs desperate to sign the Englishman, it will be interesting to see who makes the first move and who wins the race. The transfer fee will also be an interesting area as many clubs may not be keen to pay high high fee for someone who
