West Ham star Declan Rice told who to make transfer decision amid Chelsea and Man Utd
interest
Chelsea target Declan Rice has been told to snub the Blues and Manchester United in favour
of a big-money move to Pep Guardiola's Man City amid superb form.
Rice, 22, has kicked on well from the summer after his wonderful European Championships campaign
with England and Gareth Southgate.
Six goal contributions from a roaming midfield-based role in 14 games in all competitions is going
some way to justifying the £100million price tag that has been placed on the Englishmen's
shoulders by David Moyes and Kevin Nolan in the past.
Of course, Chelsea have been heavily interested in bringing back the ex-academy player to
west London but the price-tag has so far deterred Marina Granovskaia and co. from making a play for
West Ham's No.41.
Instead, they opted to sign Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico Madrid as a stop-gap to
a future midfielder signing in the upcoming transfer windows, and football.london understands
that it's highly unlikely that the Blues hierarchy will trigger the £35million option to buy
come the end of the season.
Furthermore, talk has switched backed to the west Londoners' long-standing interest in Mason
Mount's best friend, but the player himself has been told to snub the European Champions
for the current Premier League champions in a rather surprising admission.
Ex-Manchester United midfielder Kleberson told PaddyPower: "Declan Rice could play for
any of the top Premier League teams. He had a brilliant season last year, a great Euros
with England and has started this season incredibly well.
"He’s still young so will continue to grow and become a better player, but already in
his career, you can see how much he’s improved and grown up as a midfielder, especially technically.
"The top teams are always looking for players who have Premier League experience and have
had strong performances over a long period of time, which is exactly what Declan Rice
has had. The best teams are always on the lookout for players as they need a big squad
due to the number of games that they play throughout the season.
"It would be good to see Declan Rice play for Manchester City as they base their play
around keeping the ball for long periods of time, which is something that Declan Rice
likes to do. The style of play that Pep Guardiola creates would be perfect for him and the way
Pep interacts with his players, is something that Rice would benefit from massively."
football.london understand that West Ham have never received a bid for Rice and would not
welcome one. The midfielder is understood to be happy at the club and on a long-term
deal that does not expire until 2024, with the club holding an option to extend for a
further 12 months.