West Ham manager David Moyes has made a firm declaration on the immediate future of star midfielder Declan Rice, describing it as ‘impossible’ that he will leave in the January transfer window.
Rice has been one of the Premier League’s best midfielders for some time and also has made himself indispensable for England in the last couple of years.
The 23-year-old, who by his own admission wants to win trophies and play in the Champions League, is unsurprisingly regularly linked with a move away and has been watched by several of the country’s biggest clubs. Yet West Ham have continued to hold firm.
The Hammers have valued Rice at £120m and potentially up to £150m. The latter would make him the third most expensive player of all time behind only Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Chelsea are the club most interested in the player, having previously released him as a 14-year-old.
As 90min reported at the time, the Blues approached West Ham in early summer but were told in no uncertain terms that Rice was not for sale. Chelsea have not backed off and 90min revealed earlier this month that Rice is top of their transfer wish-list in 2023.
But when the topic was raised at a press conference this week, Moyes responded bluntly.
“There’ll be no chance Declan Rice leaves in this window, no way. Impossible,” he said.
Manchester City and Manchester United have also both had longstanding interest in Rice but each had other priorities in summer. Liverpool, meanwhile, are in need of reinforcements in central midfield, yet are more closely monitoring Jude Bellingham and Enzo Fernandez.
Rice is under contract at West Ham until 2024 with an option to extend until 2025. He has, however, rejected new deals offering the incentive of becoming the club's highest paid player.
Source : 90min