Moyes speaks out on the Rice speculation

The Athletic is still hotly pursuing its ” Rice for Chelsea” saga and is this time claiming that the south west London outfit remain keen to a deal.

However, there is absolutely no chance this summer with one agent telling yesterday (Mon): ” It would be a mega shock were he to be on his way. Hugely unlikely.”

Whether the Athletic reporter is a Chelsea fan remains unclear but the Hammers continue to make it crystal clear they have absolutely no intention of letting the player leave other than for a monster fee of £100 million plus.

The Metro has made it very clear that David Moyes has no intention of letting the club’s young captain depart quoting him as saying: “We’ve just qualified for Europe, it’s a brilliant achievement.

“Declan (Rice) has been a big part of that and we want him to be a big part of what we do next year as well.

“I don’t think (club owners) David Sullivan, David Gold or myself have got any intention of losing Declan.

As is well known the club has already made Declan two contract offers and another could easily be on the way over the next few months – indeed it would be a surprise if that were not the case.