According to FootballInsider, Premier League giants Liverpool hold a strong interest in West Ham’s Declan Rice, as they look to bring in a marquee signing at the middle of the park.
The England international is obviously not just the only player on the list of the Merseyside club. Rice’s countryman Jude Bellingham is another character in the play, who is admired by the Liverpool hierarchy.
However, landing the current Borussia Dortmund star might end in failure, as several other European clubs are considering him as a potential future signing.
Rice is currently valued at £72 million by Transfermarkt, but ask West Ham fans and they would not let go of their prized asset for even double the price.
Current club manager David Moyes is just another name who feels the same way about the 23-year-old. Speaking in 2021, the former Man Utd boss claimed that the midfielder’s current market price would be £150m “minimum.”
“The first thing to say is that he is not for sale,” Moyes said last year.
“But if you are interested, it will be north of that, because £100m was cheap last summer and £150m just now would be the minimum – but he is not for sale.”
Regardless, the veteran manager would be well aware of the fact that Liverpool are one of those clubs in the world that can actually match the asking price of the Londoners.
That’s not the only thing that puts the 2020 Premier League champions at an advantage. His contractual situation is another.
The London-born central midfielder’s contract at his current club runs until the summer of 2024. If Rice does not extend his stay in the coming months, his price will be substantially lower than what was quoted by Moyes last year.
According to reports, the Englishman has no interest in continuing to feature for the East London club, as he turned down a lucrative offer of £200,000-a-week, earlier this year.
That would have been a “licking the lips” moment for clubs such as Man Utd, Man City, and Chelsea, whose names have also been thrown in the ring by several news outlets.
Spending an extortionate amount on the coveted player in the summer makes more sense. However, a good exhibition at one of the most illustrious stages which is the World Cup might accelerate the commotion around him in the January transfer window.
