By Hughie Southon
West Ham are heading into the perfect transfer scenario despite the disappointment of knowing that Declan Rice will be on his way this summer.
Manager David Moyes has let it be known that the club – assuming his remains in his position -will do their utmost to keep him but the reality is likely to be far different.
However, the news that Arsenal may be ready to launch a shock bid alongside those from Chelsea and Manchester United is as good as it gets for the Hammers.
The late David Gold always claimed that the perfect scenario when selling a player was, of course, to have two or three clubs interested in order to start a bidding tug of war.
With three of the biggest clubs in the land involved that looks very likely and to push Dec’s price up from the currently quoted £88 million to over the £100 million mark which was the original Moyes estimate.
The Hammers are ready to offer the captain yet a another new deal after two before but given the circumstances at our club right now – and indeed previously – there looks no way they can encourage him to stay.
Hopefully Bellingham choses Real Madrid, including Liverpool in the mix – or better yet, swap Kalvin Phillips + cash for Declan. Latter would be my preferred as we would get a good replacement for the CDM role