CandH Exclusive by Hughie Southon
West Ham have parked all contract discussions with Declan Rice until the end of the season.
It’s well known the player has turned down a couple of offers from the club and that their response has been to make it clear a massive new deal is waiting whenever he wants to put pen to paper.
He comes out of contract in 2024 and there is a year’s option involved with the club regularly claiming there have been no bids or, ever, inquiries.
However, that could change in the summer as the game recovers from the financial impact of the covid 19 pandemic.
The likelihood is that guided by his father Sean there’s a possibility Dec will want to consider offers from Champions League clubs.
ClaretandHugh contacted Rice snr several weeks ago by text, phone and e-mail in order to gain an insight on their position following national newspaper reports but sadly received no response so we are in no position to give his view.
However, the club have put all talks on hold as they don’t want the player distracted by such issues during a seriously important season
It makes sense to call a halt to the contract talks for now, especially on the back of a record-breaking run so far this season. Ian Wright hit the nail on the head when he stated the case for Declan to remain at West Ham for now. The club is riding high, he is club Captain, playing in Europe, and an England regular.
West Ham is a club on the rise… This situation doesn’t present itself very often in a players career and any move to any of the so-called Big teams, could end up being an unwelcome false start or a stutter in his career.
Like most people I do not expect DR to be with us for ever. However the on field progress the club has made has surely increased the likelihood that he may be persuaded to stay longer than looked likely when we were perpetually fighting to avoid relegation.
There are obvious attractions to playing for a so called “glamour” club or working with a coach like Pep Guardiola but West Ham’s development has surely made it, at this moment in time, more sensible for him to remain where he is than head to a regularly rumoured destination, Old Trafford.
The elephant in the room however is his contract. The club , whether we like it or not, will have to make a decision if he continues to decline to put pen to paper. A player’s value in the transfer market drops as his contract runs down and the club will have to decide whether to allow this to happen or to invite offers.