By Hughie Southon
Declan Rice has now confirmed, according to our insiders, that he will not be signing a new Hammers deal.
Some have started moaning about disloyalty as a result which frankly is about as big as garbage gets.
Dec has given us all he has over his time at the club and whatever happens he will have justifiably go down as part of Hammers folklore and, in my book, the legend he is bound to become.
However, and it’s a big one, there remains a chance that he could although that will depend on the money available and signings Moyes brings in.
June 10 is the opening date for the window and whilst there have been the usual plethora of rumours about who he intends to sign NOTHING has so far happened!
We all know how short we are on players and aware of the Moyes rant after Brighton which was presumably related to our failure to qualify for the Euro League and the players he had in mind maybe.
That’s all history but he needs to get on his bike and sign the best anyway and at least give Declan the opportunity to perhaps reconsider.
I refuse to judge him until the end of the transfer window but like many I remain very anxious in the meantime.
He needs to give us any sort of chance to keep Declan. He asked the club to offer £200k the captain a week and they did.
Now the last chance of keeping the guy is down to him by whom he signs in this window!
As much as I don’t want Declan to go, it is OBVIOUS that his Ability and Potential deserve a world-class platform and to deny him that is like denying ANY of us the chance to better or improve our circumstances.
At the same time, I also realise that the only way to keep him at this club is to become a money no object cash-rich club…….. and even Newcastle with all of their riches aren’t super splashing the cash (as with all the other cash-rich clubs).
The trajectory that we are on and where we are heading is a work in progress, we have come a long way from where we were so there is no shame in where we are right now.
It may be a case of who blinks first with the clubs who are watching him at the moment, but another top showing at the world cup could ensure that we get the fee that we deserve for a player of his ability and Dec walks away from us a West Ham legend.
The one thing that I truly believe, is that Wherever he goes, he will NEVER surpass the feelings and memories that he created with us, whatever silverware he may collect in the future.