A journalist who is ITK at West Ham has delivered seriously exciting news on the five star plans to replace Declan Rice.
West Ham’s clear priority this summer is to replace departing skipper and midfield talisman Declan Rice.
As pointed out many months ago by Hammers News, West Ham would not be able to attract or afford a player in the same class as Rice.
So replacing the generational, hybrid talent was always going to mean bringing in two midfielders with differing attributes and reshaping the side accordingly.
When co-owner David Sullivan confirmed Rice would be sold following West Ham’s Europa Conference League triumph, he made it clear the club would need to sign several players to replace the outgoing captain.
New technical director Tim Steidten is in the door to help with that and the summer transfer window for international deals is now officially open too.
With Rice close to finally leaving West Ham in a British record £105m plus deal, Steidten and manager David Moyes must start to focus on the midfield rebuild.
Now a journalist who is ITK at West Ham has delivered seriously exciting news on five star plans to replace Rice.
The Guardian journalist Jacob Steinberg – who has strong sources inside West Ham – has confirmed what Sullivan had already made clear, that West Ham are looking to sign not one but TWO midfielders to replace Rice.
And he has listed the five stars the Hammers are working on as Rice’s potential replacements.
“West Ham will look to replace Rice with two midfielders and are interested in Fulham’s João Palhinha, Juventus’s Denis Zakaria, Everton’s Amadou Onana and Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse,” Steinberg states.
“They could revive their interest in Edson Álvarez if the Ajax midfielder’s move to Borussia Dortmund breaks down.”
Although Steinberg is not necessarily telling us anything new here – it is reassuring to know West Ham are genuinely working on bringing in two midfield players.
Because it must not be forgotten Manuel Lanzini is also leaving – even if he did not get much game time last season.
All five of those central midfielders have been extensively linked with West Ham for some time.
And any two of them would be excellent additions for the Hammers.
Particularly if – as reports are suggesting – West Ham are leading the race to sign flying winger Harvey Barnes.
With Rice expected to officially leave this week, the edge could be taken off that emotional departure with some exciting arrivals over the next month or so.
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