In Demand West Ham Star Handed Player Of The Season Honour After Conference League Triumph

In Demand West Ham Star Handed Player Of The Season Honour After Conference League Triumph

UEFA have named West Ham captain Declan Rice the Europa Conference League Player of the Season.

The Hammers talisman guided his team to their first European trophy in sixty years on Wednesday night, with David Moyes’ side securing a 2-1 win over Fiorentina.

Rice was crucial once again as he marshaled the midfield in Prague, alongside the equally excellent Lucas Paqueta.

Lifting the Conference League is, though, likely to be Rice’s final act in a West Ham shirt.



Sullivan confirms that Rice is set for West Ham exit

West Ham chairman David Sullivan has revealed that the midfielder has been “promised” a transfer this summer, and he expects a number of teams to make bids in the coming days:

“We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. You can’t ask for a man who has committed more to us this season. It’s not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000 a week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It’s cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go. You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there…”

“I think the offers will start to come today. There are three or four clubs who have shown interest, but out of respect to West Ham, while we’re still playing, you don’t make offers for players. That’s not the way decent clubs do things.”

Rice has plenty of suitors

Arsenal are set to table a formal bid for the England international very soon, with their opening offer likely to be in the range of £90m. It still falls short of West Ham’s £120m valuation.

Rice’s preference is to move to the Emirates, but Bayern Munich are prepared to push very hard for the midfielder’s signature, with manager Thomas Tuchel a big fan of the player.

Manchester United are also predicted to make an offer, although their proposal is expected to include a number of players that the Irons are keen to sign.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have a longstanding interest in Rice but the Blues are the least likely to enter the battle for Rice’s signature due to Financial Fair Play rules. We will find out more about the runners and riders in the coming days.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.