Ian Wright believes that West Ham sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for £20m below his market value.
The Hammers agreed to sell their captain for an initial £100m (with another £5m due in add-ons) back in July and, speaking about the deal recently, Wright says he thinks Mikel Arteta’s side got themselves a bargain:
“I’m not being biased or anything, but I was speaking to a couple of West Ham fans recently, and I wind them up all the time. I said, ‘I feel like we robbed you, I feel like we should give you an extra £20m. I’m going to give you an extra £20m because it’s making me feel guilty that we’ve only got him for £100m’!”
Although there were some supporters on X that agreed with Wright’s remarks, most believe that West Ham got the best deal possible:
He would say that wouldn’t he
— Tom Rowe (@Tom_Rowe20) November 28, 2023
Before We we’re even thinking of selling Rice I have said for ages he’s worth £150m
— ⚒Don Raphael⚒💯 (@Reeko007) November 29, 2023
He cost us nothing and we sold him for £105 million seems like a pretty decent deal to me, if Arsenal feel that strongly they got him on the cheap though feel free to fling us another £20 million 😂
— Ray Coster (@coster_ray) November 28, 2023
Over £100 mil for a player who rarely scores or assists but yet people think he was cheap.
He's a great player, but he wasn't worth more than what was paid.— Tom Bola (@LampBobbyTree) November 28, 2023
He’s right
— WHUTed⚒️ (@TBlissett07) November 28, 2023
I don't care, I've moved on.
— Barry E (@gonepetetong) November 28, 2023
105m is fair but arsenal fans can't make up their mind. They overpaid and first and now its a bargain? 🤣
— West Ham News Central (@WHnewscentral) November 28, 2023
As much as I loved Declan I don’t think any player is worth 100m. Probably great business for both clubs. We got him for nothing and sold him for 105 mil and Arsenal feel like they underpaid for him so it’s a win win! Just be happy we got the money and he got the move he wanted
— ScottWHU (@scottyywells19) November 28, 2023
It is important to remember the background behind Rice’s transfer
While the midfielder had two years left on his contract last summer, he had already made it clear that he wouldn’t sign an extension, having rejected a number of offers from the club.
It meant that West Ham knew that they had to sell the player before his value dropped. Initially, Arsenal were only prepared to pay £80m but, after being put under pressure by Manchester City, they eventually raised the amount to £105m.
When you also factor in that Rice had already decided he wanted to join the Gunners, the Irons did well to get the Gunners to pay nine figures.
