Declan Rice is a wanted man but only the club that agrees to West Ham’s demands will get the 24-year-old defensive midfielder this summer, leaving their rivals wallowing in disappointment.
Arsenal remain the frontrunners but Manchester City are also in the running, along with Chelsea and Manchester United after they likewise registered their interest in the England international.
Each club wants to be kept informed on the race for Rice. That’s not a problem for West Ham. The more chasers involved, the higher the price, as far as they are concerned.
Here, Mail Sport imagines the cases put forward by each Premier League giant for the £100million man as Arsenal, Chelsea, City and United battle it out in the transfer market.
England’s biggest clubs are interested is signing West Ham captain Declan Rice this summer
ARSENAL’S SALES PITCH
We’ve made no secret of our desire to sign you.
You’re our top target and we’ve wasted no time in trying to get you, albeit our first offer of £80m plus £10m in add-ons was a little cheeky.
We’re coming back with an improved bid that will meet West Ham’s £100m valuation so that we can end this nonsense before it turns into a summer saga. You don’t want that and neither do we.
We’ve got a Granit Xhaka-sized hole in the centre of our team. We need a new leader. We want a midfield boss who can win the ball then drive forward with it. And you fit the mould perfectly.
We saw your anticipation first-hand in April when West Ham came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at the London Stadium. You won the ball from Thomas Partey and that sparked the comeback.
Rice knows he would be one of the star men at Arsenal if he were to join the Gunners
Mikel Arteta has a Granit Xhaka-sized hole in his team that he wants to plug with Rice
Partey is talented, but his skillset is different to yours. You can carry the ball forward like few others can. That would add a different dimension to the team. You could operate at No 6, or even at No 8.
Mikel Arteta has spoken of the need for tactically versatile players who can play in multiple systems.
He doesn’t want to stick with a 4-3-3 each week as that can become too predictable in the Premier League. Your all-roundedness would give Arteta greater options in this regard.
Arsenal finished second to City last season. With you, we think we can go one step further.
CHELSEA’S SALES PITCH
Hear us out, Declan. This would be a homecoming of the highest order. Forget Pogback. This is the Rice Return, coming back to finish what you started here all those years ago.
You know what Chelsea are about, having been here until the age of 14.
We let you leave and we want to rectify that mistake now. Believe me, we’ll be paying for it.
Money won’t be a problem, though. Not with Todd Boehly.
We’ve signed a series of superstars. They didn’t click last season but they will come good, now that Mauricio Pochettino is in charge.
Rice could be tempted to join up with new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino
You want to play in the Champions League. So do we. That will be solved after the next season and if history tells you anything, it is that this is a club which wins trophies.
Just ask your friend Mason Mount (albeit don’t ask him why might be leaving for Manchester United please).
Exciting times are coming for Chelsea. Don’t miss out on being a part of what we feel will be a trophy-laden era.
MANCHESTER CITY’S SALES PITCH
Don’t you want to come to a club that can guarantee you medals for your mantlepiece? Don’t you want to work with the grandmaster of football that is Pep Guardiola? Don’t you want to win?
If the answer to all of those questions is ‘yes please’, then City is the club for you. We’re the treble-winning team that are only hungry for more trophies and you can help us with that.
You made more ball recoveries than any other Premier League player last season. You made the most interceptions out of anyone. Only our own Rodri ranked higher than you for total carries.
You did all that for a team which averaged 41 per cent possession last season.
Guardiola’s City keep the ball, so you can focus on being more creative, a side to your game which has improved greatly in the last year.
Playing under Pep Guardiola is an opportunity that few players would be able to turn down
Manchester City would be as close to a guarantee for Rice that he would go on to win trophies
Yet on the rare occasions we’re out of possession, we’re confident you can get it back for us in no time because there is no one better in the Premier League than you at doing that.
You may be concerned about game time. Don’t be. In the pursuit of every trophy there is, there will be plenty of room for both you and Rodri.
It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You could play together as a midfield two. You could do what John Stones has been doing. You could improve your attack-mindedness with the guidance of Guardiola and show your full repertoire.
It would be monstrous! Like we said at the start of this sales pitch, if you want to win, come to City.
MANCHESTER UNITED’S SALES PITCH
Haven’t you read the news? We’re being bought out.
We’re already the biggest club in the world and we’re only going to get bigger. We’ll be ‘massive’, to borrow West Ham’s favourite word.
Now is the ideal time to join United and we have a clear need for someone such as you in midfield.
Why go to one of these other 4-3-3 teams when we already play 4-2-3-1?
Manchester United may be rank outsiders but their 4-2-3-1 system would be familiar to Rice
You know how to play alongside a midfielder, having partnered Tomas Soucek at West Ham for so long. You could seamlessly step into that double pivot at the heart of our team.
Maybe we’re considered the outsiders in this four-horse race. There’s been talk of how much we can – or rather cannot – spend this summer. You don’t need to worry about that. All you need to know is that your name is on our list of targets.
United are on the verge of bigger and better things. We want to get back to our winning ways. And if that isn’t tempting enough, we might even bring in your bestie, Mount.
