6 Comments

Leroy: My Declan Rice fears

 

This is a blog I never really wanted to write but on my return to ClaretandHugh I have to be absolutely honest about my feelings on the No 1 topic at the club – Declan Rice.

As a former Hammer and ambassador for this club the Irons are so close to my heart and nobody wants the young man to remain at the London Stadium more than me!

It absolutely goes without saying that he is a quite brilliant footballer and his performances at the Euros were quite outstanding. They caught the attention of every top club in the UK and abroad.

And I have to say that I will be shocked if there aren’t bids for him this summer with Chelsea probably favourites to get him if that’s the case.

I have to be 1,000 per cent honest and admit that if he is still here at the end of the summer I will be  surprised.

He will have been away with players from all the top clubs and will have been talking about life at places such as City, United, Chelsea and all the rest. He can’t help but to have been impressed – it’s natural.

I hope and pray I’m wrong and that he turns out to be another Mark Noble but we need to prepare ourselves for what may well be the realities of the situation.

When the Telegraph leaked stories that a couple of contract offers had been turned down it seemed pretty clear the newspaper had received some sort of steer.

There may be more of the same on the way. I really hope I’m wrong but I have to be honest – I’m a bit fearful.

Leroy was talking to Hughie Southon

 

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

6 comments on “Leroy: My Declan Rice fears

  1. Can’t disagree too much with Leroy’s logic. If he has declined the offer of a new contract the club will have to consider selling him sooner rather than later in order to maximise the transfer fee received. Everyone knows the longer the contract, the bigger the fee.

    • Geoff, until we know what was actually offered to his representative we don’t really know why that particular offer was not acceptable, it could be remuneration, length of contract without a buy out clause inserted, or many other details, any of which could be overcome through further discussion if their is will on both parts, nowhere has it been reported that an unwillingness to continue discussions is apparent. To my mind, that is fundamentally important before we all go into meltdown because of Leroy’s personal opinion.

      What I do know is that we are finally moving in the right direction, the competition’s wary of our ability to shake up their cozy environment. We must come together and make it known that we’re standing firmly. Time for us to push back and flex our muscles.

      • My point is essentially that if I was in DR’s position there would be no upside to signing a new contract. I am already being well remunerated and if I don’t put pen to paper now and my contract runs down I can leqave for free when it actually expires. And my agent can negotiate a nice lump sum signing on fee.

        If he doesn’t sign an extension any transfer fee payable would reduce as his contract runs down. From an economic, not a football, point of view the sensible thing to do would be to sell him now.

  2. I think he will stay at west ham for this season because we are in Europe and is the 1st name on the sheet here every time.

    Next summer we will sell him

  3. Have no fear Leroy,
    Dec hasn’t only just burst onto the scene this summer, let’s give him some credit for his international performances, but he got there playing for us, that won’t change his opportunity by continuing here, he should know that West Ham United is the sleeping giant of English football and it’s been many years since we’ve had a squad of players and a football style that compliments each other.

    Declan doesn’t come across as someone who craves personal recognition above collective achievement, he’s being developed here as a leader our captain on the pitch, he’ll have several more seasons before he needs to evaluate his status within the game and he will still only be approaching his prime years thereafter, who knows how successful we could be within that timeframe!

    We’ll be playing at the same level of competition as many of his contemporaries in Europe too. I’ll be amazed if he’s looking to force his way out, just when it looks like we’re finally going places!

    • Yeah, I agree with you, and we have a contract with him until 2025 (2024+1), so we are in no rush to sell, nor do we want to.

      Most of the reports seem to be based on 2 things:
      1. He has rejected 2 contract offers – which is perfectly normal considering his current contract + his increase in value + other clubs interest in him. Naturally Declan’s team are looking to get the best deal for him, and they don’t have to accept the first offers.
      2. Chelsea wishful thinking, based on his history with the club, and friendship with Mount.

      The fact i that we can always say no, and I think it is very important that we do. I rather have a lower price for Declan in the end, than sell him to a direct competitor like Chelsea. We need to be ready to be resilient here, but of course give Declan the contract he really deserves. I also think it is important to reflect on that it is an “information” clause (if we are to believe the information) they are asking for, not a “release” clause; if he was really hellbent on leaving, surely a release clause would make more sense?

      I think Declan will stay, unless we get an extreme offer; but it would be fun to hear what other fans think 🙂

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