Declan Rice has indicated he wants to leave West Ham, saying he wants to win trophies and play in the Champions League. The England midfielder has no intention of extending his deal and is expected to be sold for a big fee next summer.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are interested and Newcastle may enter the race if they qualify for the Champions League.
It is thought West Ham will allow their captain to leave, even though they will hope to deter bidders by demanding a large fee of at least £100m. Rice’s contract runs until the summer of 2024, with the option to extend by a year, and he has rejected offers of a new deal.
The 23-year-old is desperate to play at the highest level and has said playing for England increases his desire to compete for major honours. “One hundred per cent I want to play in the Champions League,” he said. “For the last two or three years I’ve been saying that.
“I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies.
“You only get one career and at the end you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in.”
Rice is in line to start when England face Senegal in the last 16 of the World Cup on Sunday and believes the rest of the qualifiers should be worried.
“Other nations will always look at us and think about the quality we’ve got in the squad,” he said. “Why should we not be feared? If you look at our attacking players, there are world-class, unbelievable talents across the board. There are players who have played in the biggest games and won the biggest trophies. We are one of the biggest teams here.
“But it’s down to us to prove it on the pitch. Teams like the French have proved that. They’ve won a World Cup. They’ve done it consistently. Now we want to change that. We’re not just here to get into the round of 16. We want to go the whole way. It’s up to us to prove it.”
