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David Moyes Urges Declan Rice To Reject Arsenal And Join Another London Club
In an effort to recruit Conor Gallagher this summer, West Ham manager David Moyes wants Declan Rice to join Chelsea. However, he is prepared for the midfielder to go with Arsenal instead.
Rice led the Hammers to victory in the Europa Conference last week in Prague, appearing to be his final game with the team.
Since the beginning of the year, Arsenal has identified the midfielder as their top summer target. They are reportedly close to reaching an agreement on a £100 million transfer for him to the Emirates.
While Bayern Munich has made him a summer transfer target, Manchester United also has a long-term interest in him.
Chelsea has been another possible destination with Rice leaving the Blues academy as a 14-year-old.
According to The Sun, Hammers boss Moyes would prefer for the club to do business with Chelsea and make a play to bring Gallagher to east London in a part-exchange deal.
Gallagher is among the host of Chelsea stars who could be sold this summer as the Blues attempt to trim their bloated squad after last season’s dismal 12th place finish.
However, Rice has made it clear he does not want to return to Chelsea and has his heart set on a move to Arsenal.
As a result, Bayern Munich have also ended their interest in the England international, accepting his decision to remain in England.
West Ham have already signalled their intent to allow Rice to leave with the club reportedly targeting Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah to help fill the void.
‘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,’ West Ham chairman David Sullivan said last week.
‘In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement – or several replacements. 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.’
