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Guardiola lets interest in Declan be known

 

By CandH’s northern man Terry Robbins.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has asked about signing Declan Rice if 36 year old Fernandinho leaves at the end of the season.

One of the Man City boss’s most respected confidantes Spanish journo Pol Ballus has close links to the Manchester City manager, and co-authored ‘Pep’s City: The Making of a Super Team’.

Guardiola allowed Ballus into his inner sanctum at the Etihad when he first arrived in Manchester and is considered a tier one source by City fans.
Ballus, along with writer Paul Hirst at The Times, have stated Declan is on the radar for Pep to replace 36-year-old veteran midfielder Fernandinho.
The Brazilian is out of contract this summer and is still making up his mind whether to continue playing in Manchester, with talks scheduled to take place after City play Chelsea in the Champions League final May 29.
I have spoken to our own sources in Manchester this morning and they have confirmed Rice is  player Guardiola and his coaches have been discussing in recent weeks.
City insiders, however, insist the club can’t get close to Hammers’ £100m valuation because they have set aside big money already to sign a striker replacement for outgoing legend Sergio Aguero.
There are suggestions the Premier League champions-elect could offer a decent makeweight plus cash, but Irons will want to make sure they maximise every penny for Declan.
It’s understood City also don’t want to pay out too big because they already have £60m defensive midfielder Rodri in the ranks, with Rice also having to consider if he would be willing to accept Guardiola’s strict rotation policy.
There’s no doubt Rice has caught the eye of Guardiola who elieves the player has similar qualities to Fernandinho.
Rice would add to City’s homegrown quota, alongside Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden, which is another consideration.
Ballus was in attendance for City’s Champions League semi-final victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night at the Etihad, with City sources hinting the Rice interest is becoming a hit topic for discussion.
Rivals Manchester United were thought to be in pole position  but the arrival of City on the scene in recent days will certainly help the Irons in any bidding war that might ensue.
 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

7 comments on “Guardiola lets interest in Declan be known

  1. A bidding war ? Back to little old West Ham then. Deserve all we DONT get. If we sell our best players we will get nowhere. What is the point ? Lets all give up. You seem to have. Bidding war ? Only if you invite it and show its true when we are called a little club. And articles like this seem to confirm we will always know our place,At least according to the media-if not the loyal support who want better.

  2. Fans, journalists, pundits, government ministers all very quickly and rightly called out the perceived injustice of the ESL a couple of weeks ago, is it now time that the same level of vitriol is aimed at those clubs, some of which were also involved in the ESL, that persistently spend beyond the means provided by prize money, gate receipts, TV revenue and (genuine) commercial revenue?

    Man City’s owners have the means to tempt Rice, but doing so would be more evidence of just how far removed from sport football has become.

  3. That’s all we need! Let’s hope this isn’t bonifide and his head isn’t turned! COYI’s! ⚒

  4. Just needs Declan to honour his contract and for club to stand firm!
    Trying to replace him in current market is futile as other clubs will know we have big proceeds from a sale and hold us to ransom!

  5. I don’t understand the disbelief in the comments above; did you honestly think PL champions wouldn’t consider a young England International? Few if any PL clubs can stagger interest from City if they want a player, and the player wants to join (inc Liverpool with Sterling, Spurs with Walker and Leicester with Mahrez). It is not only a money game either, we all know City has a better chance of winning trofies than our beloved hammers, no matter how wishful we are. This is infact a huge compliment to Rice and West Ham, I just pray Dec wants to stay with us for a couple more years!

  6. Oh well we are interested in De Bruynne, Foden and Aguerro but of course we don’t want to spend a lot so we can’t come anywhere near their evaluation so let them know we are interested…….

  7. As i have always said right or wrong you get what you expect out of life ! Great so its a huge compliment and we sell our best player. Cut the praying and make sure he wants to stay with us by our actions. Showing we want to win things. Huge compliments as you put it get you nowhere as you wave goodbye to your best player! Not really a negotiating tactic. !

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