Declan Rice (done and dusted)

Goddamn. $10 on 10 eggs? What were they? Ostrich eggs?

regular brown eggs, and small ones…
usually I won’t buy from those place, but I was in a hurry, need some eggs at home

I got blasted by my wife for days because of that.

The fees being touted before were £100m or more. However, for £70m I would bite.

Rice is a 7.5/10 in every attribute. He doesn’t have a single weakness. But by the same token, I’d also say that he doesn’t have any 10/10 technical aspects to his game. He’s exceptionally well rounded and coupled with his frame / athleticism (and nationality), that’s why he’s worth so much money.

We’d be buying him with the expectation that he has lots more to offer. More aggressive ball carrying, more clinical forward passing, more of a threat basically.

If Arteta wants him this badly (and it sounds like we’re doing as much as we can behind the scenes with the agent) then I trust the transfer. Either as competition for Partey or as the Xhaka upgrade, he’d be an excellent purchase.

I do think that United and Chelsea (at a minimum) will compete for his signature. That 70m will probably be closer to 100m when all is said and done.

3 Likes

I think West Ham are just fronting. Moyes said he would cost even more than Enzo but that’s nonsense.

West Ham are in no position to not sell Rice. They’ve made a huge investment last summer that hasn’t paid off and unless they win the Conference League, they will be in trouble this summer.

I doubt they get relegated but I can’t see them finishing above 10th.

Rice has a year left in his contract and from what I understand they can’t extend his contract until he enters the 12 months of his deal, meaning they’re bound to end up in the same spot the following summer.
I think he will end up going for £70-80m in the end.

1 Like

I agree.
It’s between us and Chelsea but they need a goal scorer and after their recent record breaking spending, they surely can’t buy a world class striker and Rice.

From what my West Ham mates have said about him, he’s a level above every other player in their team so if we get him for around 70m, he’s worth it, although they wouldn’t be happy about it.

We need an upgrade on Xhaka and a midfield Rice and Partey would be one of the best in the PL.
Arteta paid 50m for White so Rice is definitely attainable, as long as the board back him.

1 Like

Said in the Wishlist thread but I think he should priority #1 when it comes to incomings in the summer and we(Edu and co.) should do a lot of work from now till then to get this done early.
Wouldn’t mind overpaying a bit to get this done quickly(by mid-July).

3 Likes

He’s unbelievably press resistance for a big lad, I’d actually say that’s his greatest attribute and what puts him closer to the worth of players like Partey or Rodri rather than Xhaka, Hendo, McTominay types.

He’s not been in the greatest form this season but that’s largely to West Ham was a whole. There was a period where him and Soucek were absolutely killing it in that midfield and I’m confident that Mikel would bring him back to those levels. Not to mention at 23 or whatever age he is he can become even more well rounded. I genuinely feel like he’s the perfect archetype for Mikel’s midfield moving forward.

This is clearly the position that Arteta wants strengthening above any other .
Although he wants a winger as well, and was willing to go big on Mudryk, it will be midfield that is his main priority in the next window so Rice is top of his list.

He’s obviously a big fan of our play.

100m+ is proabably Moyes is asking for
90m is probably the market price
80m is a bargain price
70m, Edu should fuck off if that is the price but not willing to spend

1 Like

Wishlist signing in my eyes. If we had him available this season, I’d make is title favourites. Think he’s top quality.

Him, Partey, Jorginho, Xhaka, Vieira and Odegaard - inject it into my veins. El Nenny, Patino, ESR and Lokonga on the periphery. Shaping up very nicely.

1 Like

Lokonga on the periphery to such an extent that he’s playing for another club :+1:

8 Likes

:gabriel:

2 Likes

Look I’d sell two and loan Patino. El Nenny has signed a new contract though and not sure whether it’s over for Lokonga

It never started.

3 Likes

just scored for England against Italy, his value will go up (again)

1 Like

He’s having a pretty good game

Think he’s been immense. Bossed the middle.

1 Like

Our new DM hopefully!

everyone wants Bellingham, but Rice probably fits our profile more, in terms of quality and fees.

1 Like

I am strongly of the view we won’t sign him. The leak of our interest so early on, the likely PL competition for him, the vast price tag. I just don’t see us doing it.