Declan Rice is this morning being linked with Manchester United despite him having made it clear he intends to stay at West Ham.

The  Daily Star Sunday   has  recycled Old Trafford link claiming that  Manchester United have joined the race to sign the teenager.

The report says United have officially declared their interest in Rice with Jose Mourinho a big fan.

Rice is apparently seen – or being reported – seen being as a potential answer to United’s centre-back problems, while he has also demonstrated his versatility by excelling in the Premier League as a holding midfielder.

The Daily Star add that it is possible that Manchester City, in the market for a defensive midfielder to eventually succeed Fernandinho, could also show interest.

CandH says: There’s nothing new here. We’ve all been here a dozen times or more but the simple facts remain. Declan made it clear in a two part interview with The Times that he wants to stay at West Ham and hopes a deal is done soon. That the new report should cast him in the central defensive role at United also seems back to front. Part of Declan’s reasoning for wanting to stay at WHUFC  is that he needs to be playing regular first team football, the inference being that it may not happen at bigger clubs. Obviously with January around the corner we can expect such stories to be regularly attached to our better players as we have seen over the last few days with Marko. The likelihood remains that a new Rice deal will be announced sometime between now and the summer although it could become a nice Christmas present for Hammers fans. Let’s get it done.