Declan Rice has been identified as the perfect replacement for Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson by former Reds midfielder Danny Murphy.
The West Ham vice-captain has enjoyed yet another stellar season for the Hammers and has established himself as one of the Premier League's finest midfielders. He has attracted the interest of plenty of potential suitors in the process, including the likes of Manchester United and Rice's former academy side, Chelsea.
Any side that does manage to pry Rice away from East London will have to do so with a mega-money offer, as West Ham boss David Moyes has previously insisted that the 23-year-old is worth more than £150million. "The first thing to say is that he is not for sale," Moyes claimed. "But if you are interested, well, it will be north of that, because £100million was cheap last summer, and £150million just now would be minimum – but he is not for sale."
While former Liverpool star Murphy has admitted it is unlikely that the Reds stump up that kind of cash in the summer, he is adamant that seeing Rice make the move to Merseyside would bring stunning results.
Pressed for comment on who his former side should sign, Murphy told Anfield Watch, on behalf of The Punters Page : "Declan Rice for me 100 per cent. I think if you’re looking for a Jordan Henderson replacement, then you need somebody who could be there for the next ten years.
"Rice is a super athlete; he can get box-to-box like Henderson and he leads others around him. He doesn’t have to play the holding role, but he could if Fabinho got injured, and I think he could become a great number eight in a better side. He’ll be able to get forward more and score goals which he has shown at times."
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Murphy did go on to admit he is well aware the kind of fee Rice commands could be slightly out of reach, even for a club of Liverpool's stature.
He added: "I know he’ll be really expensive, and Liverpool won’t pay that sort of money, but if you’re asking me from a fan’s mindset and a pundit mindset, then if Liverpool were to only sign Declan Rice it would be a phenomenal signing. But as I say I think it would be unlikely."
Rice sparked headlines earlier on this week following his explicit outburst at the referee after West Ham were dumped out of the Europa League.
In footage obtained by Fox Sports Mexico, the Hammers midfielder can be seen calling the referee over before shouting: "It’s so poor, all night it’s so bad. How can you be that bad? Honestly, you’ve probably been f****** paid. F****** corruption."
It remains to be seen whether Rice will face any kind of punishment from UEFA for his post-match rant.
