West Ham United was on course to trouble the usual suspects of the Premier League and almost threw one of them out of the top four. But a lethargic finish to the last leg of the season saw them drop points and submit themselves to the abyss of the newly mounted UEFA Europa Conference League.
David Moyes was dejected. But he had proven that he had a group of players who can turn things around for the Hammers and achieve glory at any cost. And Moyes even had big words of praise for one of his players, the English international, Declan Rice, and made it clear that he was one of their best and not up for sale.
“If you are interested, well, 100 million pounds was cheap last summer, 150 just now would be the minimum. But he is not for sale.”
This sent shimmers down the throat of the transfer market who had placed Rice in the bracket of £60 to £80 million. But Moyes was clear that Rice’s worth is much more than any English player at the moment.
More than what Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba (£94.5 million) or what Barcelona invested in Frenkie de Jong (£77.4 million). These were players who were touted to bring a tectonic shift to the teams they were about to join, along with off-the-pitch commercial quality that someone like Pogba brought to the club’s revenue.
Rice’s midfield abilities are more at show and effective with the Hammers than the England team but to put him at a position where he is valued more than Manchester City’s new thunderous signing, Erling Haaland, and Liverpool’s, Darwin Nunez is a complete fallacy.
Any club looking for a player in this window would be willing to pay for what he might become, which automatically inflates his value but to put an exorbitant tag to put any suitors away from Rice is West Ham’s way of keeping the player all for himself.
The 23-year-old has two years left on his contract with West Ham United, with the club having an option to extend for an additional 12 months but the ridiculous price tag also justifies the hype that usually builds up or surrounds English players and their apparent value in the footballing world.
Taking in these pricey transfer fees and playing on Rice’s surname similarity with the world’s most common cereal grain, a Twitter user stated that in England, Rice may cost £100 million, but in Brazil, Arrozinho (Rice) will be £50 million, in Italy, Risotto (Rice) will cost you £35 million and in the Netherlands, Rijst (Rice) may cost you a mere £12 million.
This clearly shows if Rice was a Brazilian, Italian, or a Dutch player, he would have cost lesser, denoting the hyped-up intensity that surrounds the English players whenever their name is taken in the transfer market.
The English international is being eyed by Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United for now, but given the insane price tag, some are sure to drop out of the race to sign him.
