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Alright, let’s get into it….
For the past few seasons, it has seemed inevitable that Declan Rice would depart West Ham United at the end of each subsequent campaign. However, at the end of each deadline day, he would remain at the London Stadium, ready to suit up for David Moyes’ side for another year.
But this time around, it may be time for the 24-year-old to say goodbye.
Several clubs have been heavily linked with a move for the English midfielder, including Arsenal who are looking to upgrade their midfield this summer and most recently Manchester City, who just don’t like any other team having nice things.
West Ham however are not going to let him go cheaply with a fee of upwards of £80m touted despite Rice only having a contract till 2024 (though the Hammers have an option to extend for a further year).
But why is Declan Rice so highly sought after? The short answer is he’s very good but it wouldn’t be much of a newsletter if we stopped there, so let’s delve into the player ahead of what could be one of the biggest moves of the summer.
Declan Rice’s talent has been apparent for many years, that’s why every summer when Manchester United and Chelsea needed a midfielder he was heavily linked.
But that’s also why West Ham consistently priced him out of a move.
I think Rice, alongside his fellow mid-table warrior Wilfried Zaha, have been the best example of the shift in financial power in the Premier League over the past 5-6 years.
Teams like West Ham and Crystal Palace no longer need to sell their best players to the top clubs to balance the books due to the massive financial injections they receive from the league’s broadcasting deal.
This means they can ask for an inflated fee if they don’t want to sell a player. Last summer when Rice was heavily linked with a move away, David Moyes told the media:
“If you are interested, well, it will be north of that. One hundred (million pounds) was cheap last summer. One hundred and fifty just now would be 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.”
However, Rice’s position now embodies another growing trend when it comes to transfers - the power of an expiring contract.
Players going on a free transfer is nothing new, I mean the Bosman ruling was back in 1995, but it seems as of late the ball is more in the players’ court because their inflated value now has further to fall if their deal expires.
Of course, even if this is the case, West Ham have given Rice their blessing to move on to pastures new, by moving his price tag into a much more reasonable range this summer.
They would have happily kept Rice forever, offering him an eight-year contract only last year and making him club captain, but after winning their first piece of silverware (the UEFA Conference League) since they were victorious in the FA Cup in 1980, it seems they are now ready to part ways with the player.
So that explains why West Ham are letting him go but it doesn’t explain why other clubs are entertaining their high asking price.
Let me start this section with a simplistic description of Declan Rice.
At 24 years old, Rice has already established himself as a leading midfielder in the Premier League. He is a regular member of the England Squad and a key part of their run to the finals in Euro 2020 and also won silverware with West Ham as their captain.
That statement alone paints a good description of why so many clubs are after Rice, but it doesn’t explain how he’ll fit into their teams; so for that, we are going to delve into his profile.
Rice’s skillset is rare, especially for an English midfielder. As many writers such as Grace Robertson and Carl Anka have discussed in the past, it is incredibly common for players with Rice’s technical quality to be moved further forward, because as I like to say ‘the children, they yearn for the goals (contributions)'.
To an extent, this has still happened with Rice. Due to his quality compared to his West Ham teammates, he has been given free rein to go forward and influence the game in more advanced areas. We’ve come a long way since the days of him playing centre-back.
This means that rather than a traditional defensive midfielder, Rice has developed into more of a ball carrier, who is tasked with picking up the ball in deeper areas and moving it up the field.
This is reflected in his stats FBref, as he averages 2.42 progressive carries and 6.6 progressive passes per 90 minutes played. His pass accuracy is a bit low at 86.5%, but you’d expect this to improve with higher-quality teammates around him.
Add in his defensive qualities, he averages a combined 3.9 tackles and interceptions per 90 and a picture of a well-rounded midfielder starts to emerge.
I feel one of the best examples of his skillset is during the UEFA Conference League final against Fiorentina.
Vincenzo Italiano’s side was much better on the night and could have easily won the tie if not for errant finishing from their forwards (something that has plagued them all season), but for West Ham, Rice was the stand-out performer.
West Ham’s back four sat deep, limiting Fiorentina’s ability to find space in the box (this is where most of Luka Jovic and Arthur Cabral’s goals have come from this season), but this left a large gap that had to be covered in front of them to get the ball up the pitch and into the feet of the attackers.
Enter Rice and teammate Lucas Paqueta. Both midfielders did extremely well to pick the ball up from deep and carry it up the field and past the Fiorentina midfield.
They did have a fight on their hands, as Sofyan Amrabat was excellent as Rice’s opposite number, but they managed to come out as the victors in the end.
So after Declan Rice’s long goodbye, where is his next destination?
Bayern Munich were linked with a move but the German champions were informed that it was Rice’s preference to stay in England and play in the Premier League.
Manchester City have implemented a new system under Pep Guardiola this season (everyone’s favourite 3241), and Rice would slot in well next to Rodri as a reliable ball progressor and allow John Stones to drop back into defence.
While the Etihad would, unfortunately, be a good landing spot for Rice, it has been widely reported that the player’s preference is to stay in London due to his family.
This would also affect Manchester United if they were to pursue the player, though it seems like their preference is to sign Mason Mount.
Chelsea have made Moises Caicedo their main target in midfield and Spurs are Spurs, so this only leaves Arsenal.
And as much as it pains me to say it, I think Declan Rice would be perfect in Arsenal’s midfield. With Granit Xhaka likely leaving the Emirates, the Gunners need a midfielder who can do the job that Rice does so well and he also adds more defensive security.
With the reports that Mikel Arteta also wants to sign Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, Arsenal would have an incredibly strong starting pivot to anchor behind their attacking talent.
If they were looking for a signing to bridge the gap with City, Rice could be just that.
West Ham fans have got to enjoy one of the league’s best midfielders for many years now and hopefully, his departure will allow them to invest in the squad and continue to perform in his absence.
But even if they have got to enjoy a long goodbye, it will be a goodbye all the same.